


Evolutions

by Hester_Of_Ravenswood, TheLonelyDraconequus



Series: RWBY, but Pollination Style [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, No Smut, No enabler, Surprise Pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 41,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23121595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hester_Of_Ravenswood/pseuds/Hester_Of_Ravenswood, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLonelyDraconequus/pseuds/TheLonelyDraconequus
Summary: The second part of my pollination au! I’m back with some new surprise characters and pairing for you to enjoy!
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long, Coco Adel/Velvet Scarlatina, Ilia Amitola/Pyrrha Nikos
Series: RWBY, but Pollination Style [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661938
Comments: 108
Kudos: 146





	1. New Beginnings

Ilia glanced at the doorway, knowing that Pyrrha would be in there for a while.

She had told Ilia not to worry or wait, but it was hard to stop herself from doing either, so she decided to distract herself instead.

She pushed herself to her feet, making her way through the large airship to see if there was anything that could take her mind off of the current situation.

She wasn’t sure what had happened to Pyrrha, but she was certainly more powerful that she used to be. Ilia would be sure to ask her for the entire story later, but now was certainly not the time.

She meandered down the hallways for a moment before she caught sight of a familiar pair of ears sticking over a chair back.

Ilia moved closer and found that Blake was in a very intimate embrace with her teammates. It was rather... odd that the four girls were laying so close, and Ilia felt out of place.

She attempted to sneak off without being seen, but a familiar voice called out to her.

“Ilia? Is that you?”

She turned back around, finding Blake staring straight at her with those amber eyes that had once been so intoxicating to Ilia. Now they were just a friendly sight, which was comforting.

“Hey, Blake,” she said gently.

Yang stared at Ilia, her arm tightening around Blake’s waist slightly.

Ruby smiled kindly at Ilia, but Weiss seemed a bit irritated at the interruption.

“It’s good to see that you’re alright,” Blake continued, sitting up slightly and causing Yang to huff almost unnoticeably.

“I’ll be right back,” she whispered to her team before standing.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Ruby asked, setting a hand on Blake’s arm.

She nodded, smiling down at Ruby with a mixture of tiredness and fondness.

“I’ll be right back, don’t worry.”

She turned to Ilia and gestured to a side room with a slight tilt of her head.

Ilia followed Blake out of the room, standing awkwardly.

“Um, look, Ilia... I just wanted to tell you that I’m in a committed relationship and, although I’m flattered-”

Ilia started laughing, and Blake paused uncomfortably, looking down at her in confusion.

Ilia composed herself.

“Don’t worry, Blake. I don’t feel like that toward you anymore. I’m actually in a relationship myself, now.”

Blake stared at her, eyes slightly wide.

“You are?”

Ilia smiled playful.

“Is it that surprising that I can get a girl to want to date me?”

Blake spluttered slightly, and Ilia smirked.

“No, it’s just, well, I didn’t expect...,” Blake sighed and shook her head, giving up on that sentence, “who’s the lucky girl?”

Ilia had a smug look on her face.

“Pyrrha.”

Blake looked surprised.

“I thought that she and Jaune were...”

“Nope! Turns out she’s more interested in faunus than failed swordsmen.”

Blake tried to hold in a laugh at Ilia’s obvious smugness, but couldn’t.

“So who managed to cage the lion?” Ilia asked, elbowing Blake playfully.

“My team,” she said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“As in... all three of them?” Ilia asked slowly.

Blake nodded.

“Nice. My girlfriend’s still better than all three of yours combined.”

Blake laughed and shoved Ilia back.

The mood turned somber suddenly as Blake remembered something else she needed to tell her friend.

“Ilia... Adam’s dead.”

The other girl paused, glancing at her.

“Are you serious?”

“I wouldn’t lie about that kind of thing.”

Ilia burst into a grin before she laughed, throwing her arms around Blake in an excited laugh.

“That’s great!” she cried, pulling back to look up at Blake.

“Did you...,” she trailed off, unsure.

“My team and I killed him,” she said.

“Are you... okay?” Ilia asked slowly.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Blake glanced over her shoulder and saw that all three of her girlfriends were looking at her.

They jumped and tried to pretend that they were doing something else. It brought a smile to Blake’s lips as she turned back to Ilia.

“I’ll be just fine.”

“Good,” Ilia paused and glanced over her shoulder for a moment, “I have to go, though. Something’s... going on with Pyrrha.”

“Is she alright?!” Blake asked.

“Yeah, she’s fine, it’s just... Ozpin... did something to her. I don’t know what it was, but she’s...,” Ilia shook her head and smiled at her friend, “she’ll be fine, though. I’m sure of it.”

Blake nodded, though she was confused by the cryptic and contradicting message, and let Ilia return to wait outside for her girlfriend.

Blake returned to her girlfriends, smiling slightly.

“What’d she want?” Weiss asked, arms crossed almost petulantly.

Blake smiled slightly at her obviously jealous girlfriend.

“To check in, and to brag about her new girlfriend.”

Weiss perked up at that, uncrossing her arms, perhaps unconsciously.

“Who?”

“Pyrrha.”

“She’s dating Pyrrha?!” Yang cried.

Blake rolled her eyes, taking her seat back and setting her head on Yang’s shoulder once more.

“I’m happy for them,” Weiss said a few moments later, curling up beside Blake.

Ruby started to run her hand over Blake’s ears almost unconsciously, her other arm loosely wrapped around Weiss.

There were footsteps behind them and Blake turned, eyes falling on a familiar face. She quickly pushed Weiss into a proper seating position.

Weiss opened her mouth, hurt evident in her eyes, but anything she could have said died in her throat when she saw Winter come into view.

She shot Blake a thankful look, which made the faunus grin fondly.

“It’s good to see that you and your... team are alright,” Winter said formally.

Penny appeared suddenly, and Blake wondered how she hadn’t noticed the other girl approaching.

“I was worried when I didn’t see you four immediately!” she said.

She glanced back at Winter.

“Winter was too!”

The agent nodded just slightly, a small smile on her face.

“I-”

A loud voice over a speaker cut her off.

“Professor Ozpin and I have decided it would be best for Beacon students to come to Atlas to continue their training and continue their education there.”

Weiss’ blood ran cold.

Atlas?

But that’s where...

Her eyes shot to her girlfriends, filled with panic.

That’s where her father was.


	2. Foreshadowing? In My Story? More Likely Than You’d Think

Emerald leaned against the wall, her breathing haggard.

She was lucky she’d been unconscious, she supposed, because otherwise the Grimm likely would have found her due to her exceedingly negative emotions.

Emerald limped her way through the desecrate halls, careful to keep her emotions in check to avoid summoning Grimm.

She stopped when she found Mercury, also laying on the ground motionlessly. After checking, she realized he wasn’t dead. She wasn’t sure is she was happy about that or not. Either way, she grabbed him by his prosthetic leg, dragging him along behind her.

She trailed through the halls, looking for Cinder.

Where could she be? She was supposed to find them once she had gotten the rest of the power of the Maiden...

She finally found an opened doorway, which she was sure Cinder had thrown open from the Grimm claws.

Emerald moved downward through the dozens upon dozens of stairs in the vault until she reached the bottom.

When she found the body, her heart stopped.

An angry, vengeful scream echoed through the halls until she could no longer make her vocal cords work.

This didn’t awaken Mercury, to her surprise, and she fell to her knees beside Cinder, shaking the woman she knew would never wake up.

She sobbed against her dead body, a part of her praying that a Grimm would find her and end her miserable existence.

When one didn’t, she picked herself up, stumbling slightly.

She picked up Cinder’s gloves and slowly slipped them onto her hands shakily.

It was her. The one they had been trying to get to become the Maiden.

Pyrrha Nikos.

Emerald dragged Mercury out of the vault.

She would have her revenge. She would finish what Cinder had started.


	3. The Prisoner

The government plane touched down just outside of Vale to allow for students to reconvene with one another and citizens to be allowed out.

Blake stared at the train ticket in her hands.

It was in two hours.

Her head picked up, her ears twitching slightly.

She hadn’t considered...

They had to be here somewhere, right?

Weiss had head down, eyes dulled slightly.

Blake put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

“I’m sure-”

“Blake!”

The faunus froze, eyes widening and the fear dissipating from her chest.

She spun from Weiss, her heart beating for what felt like the first time in hours.

Her parents wrapped their arms around her tightly, and she sunk into the embrace.

A few moments later, a tall form appeared in the crowd.

Ruby and Yang took off at a sprint, almost tackling the man to the ground.

Weiss stood awkwardly as her girlfriends reunited with their parents.

She tried not to think of her own parents as she did, but it was difficult.

Blake’s parents were informing her of their intention to return home, and a tearful goodbye ensued.

“Keep an eye on him for me, will you?” Taiyang asked, grinning down at his daughters.

“ZWEI!” Ruby cried, voice loud enough to make several people walking by look at her.

Weiss saw a hint of fur, and her heart stopped.

A dog?

The idea exhilarated her, but she stopped herself from making any noise.

Blake waved goodbye to her parents and turned to face Weiss.

“I was saying that-”

Ruby ran over with a dog, Zwei, in her hands.

Blake let out a small gasp, taking a step back with wide eyes.

Ruby frowned in confusion, holding the dog up higher for Blake to get a better view.

Zwei let his tongue loll out of his mouth.

Blake looked at the dog with disdain.

“Please keep that thing away from me.”

“What? Why?” Ruby asked, looking slightly hurt.

Yang leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“Rubes, what kind of a faunus is Blake?”

Ruby thought for a second before her eyes widened.

She hurriedly tried to hide the dog behind her back.

Blake almost laughed.

“Oh, um... sorry, Blakey!” she tried lamely.

Blake let out a small chuckle, rolling her eyes.

“It’s... alright, Ruby. Just... please don’t let it near me and my things.”

Weiss, however, didn’t seem to have any inhibitions.

She raced forward, ducking behind Ruby’s back, and grabbed the dog enthusiastically.

Blake groaned internally as Weiss started to talk to the dog happily.

There was no way she was getting rid of this mutt anytime soon.

But the excited expression on the faces of her girlfriends was more than enough to make her frustration ease...

If it made them happy, then who was she to ruin it?

Even if that dog was disgusting.

-

“One of the convicts was able to be saved, but the other...,” General Ironwood sighed.

“My point is that, Ms. Polendina, you and your partner would be best fit to transport her back to Atlas.”

Penny glanced to the side, eyes landing on Ciel, who was standing with an impassive expression and stiff posture.

She had spoken to Penny once after having discovered that she was of the... non-human variety. She had said, “please inform me earlier of any potentially important information next time,” she had paused before smiling just barely, “partner.”

Penny replayed the event in her head, finding a small grin on her face as well.

Perhaps she and Ciel could become friends. The idea excited her.

“Which prisoner is it, Sir?” Ciel asked, arms folded patiently behind her back.

“A young girl by the name of Neopolitan. I saw in your file that you understand sign language, yes?”

Ciel nodded, and Penny found herself thankful that she had been created with knowledge of all languages on their planet.

“Is she mute?” Ciel asked.

The general nodded and raised a hand, causing several guards to race forward, tugging a small form ahead with them.

The girl had heterochromatic eyes that Penny thought were intriguing, if only because of their rarity.

The girl was grinning slightly, and that expression widened when her eyes fell on Penny and her partner.

She waved slightly, despite her hands being in chains, and Penny did the same.

The general held out a file, which Ciel reached for before pausing.

She glanced at Penny and the slightest of smiles was on her face.

Penny grinned back at her and took the file.

She handed it to Ciel a moment later, which made the general raise an eyebrow.

Ciel continued with her slight smile.

Penny took the chains from a few guards, and Neopolitan smirked, following after her kindly.

“Salutations! My name is Penny!”

The criminal moved her hands, now free to die to Penny’s lax grip on the chains, to speak.

I’m Neo.

“Pleasure to meet you, Neo!”

Penny turned to Ciel, who was already flipping through the file, filled with paperwork.

There was a tug against the chain, and Penny tightened her grip on them.

“Please do not try to resist,” Penny said pleasantly.

Neo nodded, her expression not changing at all.

Ciel led Penny, who tugged Neo behind her, toward the train station.

Ciel didn’t look up from the file.

Neo was wanted for arson, grand theft everything, and... dog theft?

She glanced at the criminal, who smirked at her, as if knowing what she was thinking.

As Ciel went through the papers, she was surprised to not find anything too serious inside of it. The worst she found was a case of insurance fraud, which was written down on the same date as the arson fraud.

“Is this everything?” she asked the mute, who gestured to see the papers.

Ciel handed it to her, and Neo’s eyes flitted across the page.

She nodded after a moment, snickering as she looked at the dog theft.

“Why did you steal a dog?” Penny asked, eyes wide.

He was tied up, Neopolitan signed.

“And you just... stole him?”

Neo modded.

Penny snickered.

“Our train is leaving in fifteen minutes, exactly,” Ciel said, eyes flickering to her watch.

“Thanks, Ciel,” Penny said, watching as Neo flipped through the papers, the small grin on her face staying put.

Neopolitan watched Penny’s partner from the corner of her eyes, a small smirk growing on her lips.

Penny didn’t understand the expression, so she ignored it.

They entered the train, as Ciel had wanted to get there early, and Penny caught sight of a familiar red cloak.

Penny rushed forward, almost causing Neo to fall on her face at the sudden running.

She stopped just a moment before colliding with Ruby.

“Friend Ruby!” she said.

She was this enthusiastic every time she saw her friends, which only made those friends of hers more fond of her.

“Penny!” Ruby turned, but she froze when her eyes fell on Neo.

“What is she doing here?” Weiss asked, eyes narrowed.

“We’re escorting her to Atlas!” Penny said.

“Good,” Weiss sniffed.

Ciel tapped Penny’s shoulder and pointed to a room.

Penny waved goodbye to her friends and followed her partner, guiding the prisoner to their room.

Weiss watched Neo go with a slightly disdainful look on her face.

She sighed, shaking her head and turning back to her teammates/girlfriends.

It was still odd to refer to them like that for her.

She still found herself far too lucky whenever she thought of it.

She was dating all of them.

The idea made her smile despite herself.

The only thing that made her cautious, was her father’s thoughts.

Yang was preoccupied with her thoughts as well, thinking of what her uncle had told her.


	4. Trauma

The train rumbled down the tracks, though the occupants of it couldn’t feel it.

Yang sat, deeply in thought. That was a sentence that had barely ever been written, or even thought of, which made Blake frown in worry.

She took the seat beside Yang, leaving Ruby and Weiss to sit across from them, and set a hand on Yang’s own.

The door closed behind them.

“Yang, what’s wrong?”

The blond glanced at her.

“It’s... nothing.”

“You’re a lot of things, Yang,” Blake started, “but a good liar is not one of them.”

Yang smiled thinly.

“It’s just... why would she do that?! Why would she just... leave them?! Leave us?!”

Blake took a moment to comprehend the question, moving closer to her girlfriend.

Weiss had an expression of pure confusion.

“Who?”

“My mother.”

Weiss glanced at Blake and Ruby, seeing that they clearly understood Yang’s anger.

“I’m lost.”

“Ruby and Yang’s mothers were in a relationship with their father as well as each other,” Blake said quietly.

“And she left! She just... threw it all away!” Yang growled, slamming her hand against her armrest.

Blake reached a hand out to set it on Yang’s arm, but Yang flinched back, eyes losing their anger and growing sorrowful for a moment.

“What if I’m just like her? What if my whole life is just a retelling of hers?!” Yang threw her hands into the air. “I’m on a team with my sibling and I’m dating two of my teammates!”

The anger drained out of Yang completely, and she slumped.

“What if I’m just like her?” she asked, her voice pitifully quiet.

“But you’re not,” Weiss said immediately.

Yang’s eyes drifted to the heiress, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

“I’m not my father, am I?” Weiss asked, her voice not changing.

“What? No, of course you’re not, Weiss,” Yang said, her tone insinuating that her girlfriend was being ridiculous.

“Then you’re not your mother, Yang.”

Weiss stood and walked across the room, crouching down and setting her hand on Yang’s own.

“You’re not doomed to repeat your mother’s mistakes, Yang.”

“But what if I do?! What if we all decide to settle down together and have children, then I just RUN! I just leave behind my family,” her voice cracked, “leave behind you three.”

Tears were falling down her cheeks now, but Yang didn’t seem to notice, or, if she did, she didn’t care.

“You won’t,” Weiss said, her voice sure and steady.

“You can’t know that!” Yang cried.

“But I do.”

“How?!” she snapped.

“Because I know you, Yang. You’re a kind, loving person. You’d never leave us. Dust, we just saved Blake’s life. You didn’t think of running then. And you won’t.”

Yang shook her head.

Ruby stood and sat down beside her sister, causing Yang and Blake to be pushed against the wall at the sudden addition of another body to their row.

“Yang,” Ruby said, staring into her sister’s eyes, “you’re an idiot.”

“Wow, thanks, Rubes,” she muttered.

“You’ve done a lot of stupid things in your life, and I’ve seen most of them! You’ve said a lot of stupid things, too.”

“Is there a point to this, or are you just insulting me for fun?” Yang snapped.

“But this is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done or said, which is really saying something.”

Yang glanced at her, smirking just slightly.

“And you can believe me, because I am definitely not in love with you, unlike these two,” she gestured vaguely at their girlfriends, “so I’m not obligated to make you feel better. But I know for sure you’d never do anything like what she did.”

Yang grinned, wiping her tears away slowly.

“And besides, even if, in some backwards and upside down universe you did run away, I’d track you down and drag you back.”

Yang laughed at that.

“You’d never be able to catch me,” she said.

Ruby looked up at Blake and Weiss, eyes confused.

“How did you ever fall in love with this thing?”

“You’re one to talk, Rubes,” Yang responded, slapping her sister on the arm.

The team leader almost tumbled off of the seat, and Yang laughed again.

Blake and Weiss watched the two with fond expressions.


	5. The Full Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you start this chapter-
> 
> HEY! HEY! I SEE YOU SCROLLING, GET BACK HERE!
> 
> Anyways, I have three things to say.  
> 1) I’m a glutton for comments (those are always appreciated!!!), so comment if I made you ship something weird you’d never thought of before this story (no, I’m not sorry)  
> 2) Does anyone have any weird ship ideas for Jaune? Because I don’t like him very much but I’d totally be open to accepting a request!!!  
> 3) I’d like to give a big THANK YOU! to everyone reading this, I know it seems rushed and weird, but it’s gotten a lot of positive reviews (for reasons I can’t fathom), so thanks! I’ve been posting as often as possible for you guys, sorry for any wait!

The train was supposed to leave in ten minutes, and Pyrrha had finally convinced Ozpin to give her two tickets on it.

He had tried to convince her to stay at his side constantly, as she was now a Maiden, and therefore of extreme value.

She'd finally been able to get her way by telling him that nobody knew she was a Maiden, and it would be suspicious if one of the most noticeable young huntresses in training mysteriously disappeared from school. Especially since people knew she hadn't died.

That had finally gotten her the ticket she'd been bargaining for for the better part of two hours, and had then demanded another for Ilia.

Ozpin had tried to get information about the faunus from Pyrrha, but she had refused questioning.

When asked who the mysterious girl was, Pyrrha had only smiled lovingly and said "Ilia. Her name is Ilia."

Pyrrha stepped out of the room and looked to the side, where she had left Ilia.

Despite Pyrrha telling the faunus not to wait for her, Ilia has fallen asleep huddled against the wall, her breath coming in and out in a controlled fashion, eyes shut gently.

Pyrrha smiled and stooped down.

"Ilia," she whispered.

The faunus didn't stir, so Pyrrha repeated herself, this time louder.

Ilia moved slightly in her sleep, groaning quietly, but otherwise didn't acknowledge her.

Pyrrha sighed fondly, reaching her arms out and wrapping them around her new girlfriend (at least, she thought Ilia was her girlfriend, but she supposed they had never actually gotten around to actually discussing that particular matter) and lifting her into the air.

Ilia was light, probably mostly due to her small, lithe form, and Pyrrha could easily hold her aloft without difficulty.

Pyrrha carried the faunus to the train, boarding it without rousing her, which she thought was remarkable, considering the loud bustling of people all around them.

Pyrrha opened the door to her and room in the train, ignoring the fact that Ilia's ticket was for a different room entirely, and was met by the rest of her team.

Nora was instantly on her feet, running to Pyrrha's side quickly.

She was speaking so fast that Pyrrha could only understand every other word.

Her confusion must have been communicated to Ren, because he stepped forward and put a hand on Nora's shoulder.

She stopped and took a deep breath, slowing her speak so that it was now barely understandable.

"Jaune said that you killed someone! What happened?! And you were in a chamber? What? Is he just bad at explaining things, because I have no idea what happened! And he said something about you and Ilia, but then wouldn't tell us anything else! What-"

"Nora, maybe she'd be able to answer your questions if you gave her a minute to speak."

Nora stopped speaking, staring up at Pyrrha expectantly.

"There... was a woman, yes, and I did kill her, though why is probably a longer story than you'd be able to sit still for," she said, a small smile on her face.

Nora glared playfully at her, and Pyrrha could tell she was bursting at the seams with excitement and curiosity.

Nora rushed forward.

"Is she dead?" she asked suddenly, eyes locked on Ilia.

Nora reaches out a hand to poke the faunus, and Pyrrha slapped it away.

"No, she's not dead, she's asleep," Pyrrha said quietly, making her way to her seat and sitting down, still holding Ilia gently.

Pyrrha wondered where to start her story.

Ozpin had told her not to tell anyone about what had happened, but, well, she couldn't see herself realistically hiding it from her own team or team RWBY, so she'd decided to swear them to secrecy.

Just as Pyrrha was about to start the story, being with the children's tale of the season maidens, Ilia stirred in her arms.

Pyrrha glanced down at her, watching the faunus stretch with a fond smile.

When Ilia's eyes fluttered open, she blushed deeply, her scales turning a light pink shade that Pyrrha found absolutely adorable.

Ilia scrambled into a sitting position, almost falling over, beside Pyrrha.

The redhead laughed and Ilia smiled back at her.

Nora watched the exchange with narrowed eyes.

"Start with that," she said, gesturing wildly at the two of them.

Ilia's scales once again changed color.

"You learn that a woman is dead, I killed her, I have new powers, and was practically kidnapped by our headmaster... but you want me to start with Ilia and I?" Pyrrha asked.

Nora nodded impatiently, and Pyrrha resigned herself to the fact that she would never be able to understand her teammate's priorities.

"Ilia and I are," she glanced at the faunus and then back at Nora.

"Pardon me for a moment," Pyrrha said.

She leaned down and whispered in Ilia's ear.

"Are we dating?"

Ilia's face turned a bright red, like the setting sun, and she nodded vigorously.

"Yes!" she cried loudly, making the rest of team JNPR look at her in confusion.

She lowered her voice, clearing her throat.

"I mean... if you want us to be," she said, trying to act calm.

"Ilia and I are dating," Pyrrha continued at her normal volume.

Nora gaped at them.

"What?!"

"We're dating."

"Since when?!"

"Since now."

Jaune scoffed.

"Since NOW?! Please! Those two started making out after the battle ended!" he cried

"Well, yes, but we didn't have the chance to discuss it until now," Pyrrha clarified.

Ilia had changed colors again, but this time she was instead attempting to blend in with the seating behind her at the sudden attention.

"You said you loved each other!" Jaune cried.

"Yes, well...," Pyrrha laughed then, glancing down at Ilia, who had a small smile on her face despite the obvious embarrassment.

Nora was still staring at them in shock.

"How... what?!"

"Is it that surprising?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes!"

"I don't see why," Pyrrha said, grabbing Ilia's hand with her own.

“Because I thought you liked Jaune!” she cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

“I don’t see why previous feelings can affect my current relationship.”

Jaune looked between the two with incredulity.

“Pyrrha used to like me?!”

Ilia had finally stopped blending in and glared at Jaune.

Her grip tightened on Pyrrha’s hand.

“Used to, being the important part.”

Pyrrha chuckled gently.

Jaune looked lost, his eyes going to Ren for support. He didn’t offer any.

“Now tell me the rest!” Nora demanded, making an aggravated hand motion.

Pyrrha sighed and started at the beginning, knowing that this story would be a long, and annoying one to tell.

Despite that, she was sure she’d have to tell it again at least once.


	6. Pet Names

Weiss had always been bad at expressing affection, which was obviously a hindrance when you were dating Ruby, the girl who now couldn’t go more than two minutes without touching one of her two girlfriends (whom she also bragged about at any and every opportunity).

Because of this, Weiss was trying to be better.

She was going to make an effort to be more affectionate, and it was going to start now.

Ruby stood and walked to their suitcases, probably to check on Crescent Rose.

“Babe, can you get me a water bottle?” Weiss asked, careful not to show her anxiety.

There was a silence in the room for a moment before three heads turned to her, each hesitant.

Weiss instantly realized the problem, and she groaned internally for not having realized it before.

Usually, when one person in a relationship used a pet name, only one person would turn around, because they’d recognize the voice.

But there were four of them in this relationship... so, obviously, there was some confusion.

Weiss sighed as Ruby handed her a water. There was an excited expression on the team leader’s face, which made this whole annoying affair worth it for Weiss.

“This is confusing,” Weiss said, preparing herself for the undoubtedly awkward conversation.

Instantly, her girlfriends seemed on edge.

“Why?” Blake asked cautiously.

Weiss tried not to sigh. Every time they had to discuss something about their relationship, all three of them seemed worried that Weiss was going to break up with them! Couldn’t they see that she’d never leave them? For Dust’s sake, she was in love with them!

“Stop being so jumpy!” Weiss snapped, “I’m not leaving you! I just meant pet names would be a bother.”

The other relaxed slightly, Ruby and Yang looking properly chastised, and Blake smirked.

“Pet names?” she asked.

Weiss groaned out loud this time.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” she snapped.

Blake chuckled slightly and Weiss considered giving up on this entire prospect.

“She’s right. We need different pet names for each of us!” Ruby said enthusiastically.

Yang looked excited as well, and Weiss instantly saw the new problem she was facing.

“No puns!” Weiss snapped.

“Weisscicle,” Yang said, smirking that insufferable way she did anytime she made a pun she was particularly proud of.

“No.”

“Snowflake.”

“Yang,” Weiss said lowly.

The blond sighed.

“At the very least, Blake’s Kit-Kat.”

Blake glared at her, and Yang just grinned.

“I like Kit-Kat! ‘Cause she’s sweet, like the candy!” Ruby said.

The innocent, excited look on Ruby’s and the adordorkable smirk from Yang was enough to break Blake.

“Fine, but if a faunus calls you racist, that’s not my fault.”

“I hate to step on any toes,” Yang said, though the grin on her face said otherwise, “but Rubes is obviously going to be Sugar for you two.”

Ruby glanced at their girlfriends, who both had suffering looks on their faces.

“Fine,” Weiss said, arms crossed.

“And I’m obviously going to be named sexy,” Yang said, smirking.

Ruby groaned.

“No. No way, Yang!”

“Master of Love?”

“No!”

“Lady Killer!”

“No!”

“How about puss-”

Blake slapped a hand over Yang’s mouth, glaring.

“I already know where you’re going with that, and that’s a strong no on my part.”

“Lady magnet.”

“No!”

“How about Angel for Weiss?” Blake said suddenly.

Ruby grinned excitedly, and Weiss blushed.

“I don’t know,” Weiss said tentatively.

“It’s perfect!” Ruby said, Yang nodded alongside her.

Weiss sighed.

“Sugar tits!” Yang said.

Blake blushed and Ruby groaned at the top of her lungs.

“Firecracker,” Weiss said suddenly, looking up at her girlfriends with a slightly excited expression.

A beat of silence.

“Did she just make a pun?” Yang asked.

Weiss wished she hadn’t said anything.

Yang grinned excitedly, leaning over in her seat beside Weiss to throw an arm around her.

“That might possibly be the hottest thing you’ve ever said.”

“Are you seriously attracted to people when they make puns?” Ruby asked.

Her sister just grinned, and she sighed.

“Firecracker it is,” Blake said before Ruby could veto.

“It’s not Lady Killer, but it’ll do!”

Her gaze flickered you Weiss and a slightly mischievous expression grew on her face.

The heiress was about to ask her what she was thinking, but Yang’s lips were on her own before she has the chance.

The last time Weiss had been able to kiss one of her girlfriends had been on the night of their confessions.

Weiss had always been bad at affection... but for these three, she’d be happy to make an exception.

Ruby make a disgusted sound as she saw her sister starting to make out with their girlfriend. In theory, she was absolutely fine with it... however, she’d rather never see it herself.

Blake had a small smirk on her face as she leaned down toward Ruby, whispering in her ear.

“You know... there’s always other ways to distract yourself.”

Blake left it at that, sitting back up straight.

Ruby scoured her brain, trying to figure out what Blake meant.

She could play with Zwei, but he was sitting on a carryon bag above their head at the moment. She could get her scroll out-

She saw the small smirk on Blake’s face, and she suddenly understood.

Ruby awkwardly fidgeted her thumbs.

How did she do this?

“Blake, I... can I-”

Blake rolled her eyes.

“Ruby, you’re my girlfriend, of course you can.”

Ruby grinned and leaned over, Blake’s arms wrapping themselves around her waist.

Ruby tried not to smile into the kiss, but it was difficult.

After a minute, Blake pulled back just long enough to speak.

“What’s with you three and my ears?” she muttered, though there was a slight fondness to her voice.

“They’re cute!” Ruby said, though she didn’t give Blake the chance to respond, leaning back into the kiss with vigor, almost making Blake laugh.

They had a few more blissful minutes before a voice interrupted.

“Rubes, you can’t hog Blake all to yourself,” Yang said.

“You stole Weiss,” Ruby said, panting just slightly as she put her head against Blake’s chest.

There was a rumbling against her head, and Ruby giggled.

Yang raised an eyebrow as she looked at her sister, eyes darting to Blake.

“Switch?”

“I suppose we could,” Ruby said.

Yang grinned and all but threw herself into the seat Ruby vacated.

They had a little over half an hour left on their train ride... and she intended to make the most of it!

Though, she did get a little frustrated when Weiss and Blake wanted a turn together, leaving Yang and Ruby to just sit and wait for their girlfriends to decide they were done.


	7. Interruptions

“You’re going to tell team RWBY, right?” Nora asked, having finally calmed down after having heard the full story from Pyrrha.

“I plan to.”

“Then let’s go!” Nora cried, heading to the door and throwing it open.

Pyrrha glanced at her teammates, and her girlfriend, who seemed resigned to following Nora.

Pyrrha sighed, standing and being tugged along behind an enthusiastic Nora.

They arrived at the other team’s room and Pyrrha went, but Nora moved to the doorknob.

“Maybe we should give them a minute,” Ilia suggested quickly.

Nora ignored her and threw the door open.

They were met with Yang and Blake lip-locked on the seats to the right. On the ground below them, Weiss sat leaning against Yang’s legs with the blond’s hand resting in her messy hair, Ruby sitting on her knees and pushing the heiress back against her Yang’s legs as they kissed. One of Ruby’s hand was resting against Blake’s knee to balance herself as she leaned into Weiss. Blake had her hand on top of Ruby’s own, running her thumb over the back of the team leader’s hand as she kissed Yang.

Team JNPR stopped in their tracks, staring at the four girls.

Ilia averted her gaze, her entire face turning a bright scarlet color.

Nora and Jaune’s jaws dropped and even Ren’s eyes widened noticeably.

Pyrrha put her hand over Ilia’s eyes and cleared her throat when she’d gotten her wits about her.

The four girls didn’t notice, so Pyrrha coughed loudly.

They all jumped at the interruption, breaking apart hurriedly.

Blake jumped and slide closer to Yang, trying to hide against her shoulder. That sudden movement sent Ruby tumbling forward against Weiss, as she’d lost her support, and the heiress squeaked, falling back farther against Yang’s legs, head landing in her lap. Ruby was sprawled our Weiss now, and Yang burst out laughing at the absurdity of their situation.

Her laughter seemed to break everyone else out of their trance, and Nora grinned excitedly.

“You finally told them!” she cried, and Weiss flushed.

“Do you mind? We were a little busy,” Yang said, grinning.

Nora laughed.

“I can see that!”

Weiss buried her face in Ruby’s hair while the team leader chuckled awkwardly, waving at team JNPR.

“Why is everyone suddenly getting a girlfriend?!” Jaune asked incredulously.

“Girlfriends,” Yang corrected, smirking.

Jaune threw his hands in the air.

“Why do I even try?!”

“Honestly? I have no clue,” Blake said, sitting up and leaning her back against Yang’s side.

“So what was so important you had to barge in without knocking?” Yang asked, somewhat irritably.

“We... have some important matters to discuss,” Pyrrha said.

Ruby sat up and put her chin on Blake’s knee, sitting between her legs.

“What kind of matters?” Weiss asked, trying to regain her dignity as she leaned against Yang, attempting to fix her suddenly unruly hair.

Pyrrha started the story, intent to finish quickly and leave the four to get back to... what they’d been doing.

-

Ciel glanced at Penny, who sat beside her on their side of the room.

The criminal sat on the other seat, smiling back at them.

Ciel found herself slightly unnerved by the other girl. How could she be in such high demand if she was only a, relatively, small time criminal? And how had she been able to avoid the police for such a long time?

Why don’t you give my chains to her, Neo signed, pointing at Ciel.

Penny frowned, glancing at her partner.

“I’m sorry, Neo, but I’m not going to give you the chance to escape,” Penny said.

Why would I try to escape if she’s holding my chains? Neo signed.

Penny seemed utterly confused, and Ciel did as well.

The train was going to arrive soon, anyways, so Penny was sure they wouldn’t have to deal with the criminal for very long.

Neo watched Ciel, her oddly colored eyes filled with mischief.

Penny moves subtly closer to her partner, hoping that the criminal didn’t mean her any harm.

-

Coco let out a quiet sigh, rubbing her temple.

Velvet was still asleep against her shoulder, snoring gently, and Coco had been threatening anyone that so much as coughed.

The faunus stirred against her chest, and Coco looked down.

Velvet yawned, eyes blinking open blearily.

“Did we win?” she asked, once she could speak.

“Thanks to you, Honey Bun.”

Velvet turned a light shade of red, like she always did when Coco called her by pet names, and smiled gently.

“Can you guys stop being so adorably gay for five minutes?!” Fox growled.

Coco showed him a single finger, and Velvet swatted her hand.


	8. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, by the way, I just made a one shot story for pollination! Open for requests!

Despite Pyrrha's wishes, after team JNPR left, team RWBY did not go back to their previous activities, and instead sat in silence, thinking.

"The Maidens are real?" Ruby asked.

Weiss barely stopped herself from responding sarcastically.

"It seems so," Blake said.

"And Pyrrha's one of them," Yang added.

"Which one was it again?" Ruby asked.

"Fall," Weiss supplied.

"Huh," Ruby said.

A moment of silence.

"That's cool," she continued.

"So... how long do we have until we get there?"

Yang grinned.

"Pyrrha being a Maiden not enough to make you distracted?"

Ruby flushed.

"T-that's not what I meant-"

Yang grinned.

"Either way, you can see the station from here," Weiss said.

Ruby pushed herself to her feet, reaching up to grab their bags.

"Well, at least we're here!" she said.

Blake took her bag wearily, watching the bag Ruby held, smelling the annoying mutt inside of it.

Yang took the bag from Blake's arm, throwing it over her shoulder with a grin.

"I'd hate to have such a fine young lady carrying bags, unlike some annoying gremlins," she said, gesturing at her sister.

"Hey! I'd carry her bag too!" Ruby whined.

Weiss shoved her bags into Ruby's arms, almost causing her girlfriend to fall over.

"You can carry mine."

Blake laughed and reached forward, taking a few of Weiss' bags from their team leader.

As they began to exit the train, the loud sound of fighting reached their ears, and the team dropped their bags, rushing forward to see what was causing the noise.

-

Penny smiled at her partner? Giving her an excited thumbs up.

They had just dropped off Neo, and Ciel seemed less tense now, though she did watch the criminal walking away, trailing her with her eyes.

Ciel thought back to earlier, the scene playing vividly in her mind.

/

Penny sat, looking out the window in wonder. She'd been doing so for the past two minutes, and showed no signs of stoping. Ciel didn't halt her, as she would feel guilty if she were to deprive her partner of such enjoyment and enthusiasm. Also, Penny still held Neo's chains effectively, so there was no reason to spoil her good mood, so long as she continued to do her job.

Across from Ciel, Neo sat idly. Her gaze flickered to Ciel, and a small smirk grew on her lips. Her eyes bored into Ciel's own, the brown and pink colors making a sort of playful message. Her hands moved in the chains experimentally. It elicited the barest of noises, and Penny did not seem to care about the slight movement.

That made the smile on Neo's lips widen, and she purposefully made eye contact with Ciel, her hands slowly lifting as she waved at her, gaze flickering to Penny for just a moment.

When she didn't move from her inspection of the window, Neo formed a few words with her hands.

'Ciel, right?'

Ciel glanced to her partner, unsure if she should respond or get Penny's attention.

'Don't look at her, look at me. What's the worst that can come from a friendly little chat?' Neo signed quickly.

Ciel was lucky she was able to keep up with the fast words, as she hadn't used her expertise in sign language for some time.

'I... suppose,' Ciel responded.

Neo smiled again, this time looking more genuine and less mischievous.

'Good. I suppose I should count myself lucky to be talking, or rather signing, with you.'

'And why is that?' Ciel asked.

'You seem like a very difficult woman to intrigue.'

'I don't see why that'd be a problem for one of the most notorious criminals in Vale.'

Neo chuckled silently.

'Now that's a stretch. I work for one of the most notorious criminals in Vale. Or, at least, I used to.'

'You were his second in command, yes?' Ciel questioned.

She wondered if her testimony could be used to convict the criminal in court, and made a mental note to remember the entirety of this conversation.

'I guess you could say that, though I'd consider myself more of a bodyguard.'

Neo shifted in her seat, placing one leg over the other delicately, smiling almost serenely at Ciel as she did so.

'And what did that entail?'

'What you would expect. Mostly making sure he didn't die, occasionally theft. One charge of arson and insurance fraud.'

'And dog theft, apparently,' Ciel sighed, raising an eyebrow.

Neo laughed silently again, holding one hand in front of her mouth.

'That was more my decision, but yes.'

'You seem like a skilled young woman. Why did you join him? There were plenty of schools that would have given you an exceedingly generous scholarship.'

Neo paused for a moment, her eyes losing that shine of playfulness for a moment.

'When someone saves you from a life on the streets, you don't just forget it.'

Ciel turned toward the file.

She had seen mentions of Neo as a young street urchin, though that had been almost eight years ago.

The criminal in front of her was barely seventeen. Ciel supposed that was good for Neo. Her sentence wouldn't be as long as an adult's would be, and she could likely make a pleading case for extenuating circumstances caused by her... unfortunate young life.

'I see.'

'How about you? I'm sure there were more job opportunities than just robot babysitter.'

'She has an aura,' Ciel signed quickly.

Neo's smirk didn't slip.

'Still didn't answer my question, Gorgeous.'

Ciel considered for a moment, eyeing the other girl warily.

Was this some sort of trap?

But Ciel couldn't think of anything the criminal could be planning, especially while in chains.

'I'm a student at Atlas. My headmaster asked me to be on a team with Penny, and I accepted.'

Neo's eyes twinkled.

'So you did a favor for someone who helped you?'

Ciel raised a cautious eyebrow.

'Yes, I suppose I did.'

'Looks like you and I aren't so different after all, gorgeous.'

Ciel didn't respond, but that didn't seem to dissuade Neo in the slightest.

'If you plead guilty, I'm sure you'll get a year in juvy, at most.'

Ciel wasn't sure why she cared. Maybe it had something to do with those playful eyes of hers. Or maybe that smirk, which held so many secrets within its depths.

'Is that so?'

Ciel nodded.

'Well now, gorgeous, that's absolutely unacceptable.'

Ciel frowned in confusion, preparing to sign another question, but Neo suddenly leaned in closer, that smirk still playing on her lips.

'I certainly deserve much longer, but I refuse to accept that either. What do you think, gorgeous?'

Ciel found breathing difficult, and she leaned back in her seat. Neo followed her, and she couldn't find it within her to complain.

'About?' she managed to sign, even as the criminal invaded her personal space.

'Me, of course. What else would I ever talk about?' Neo paused to consider for a moment, one finger tapping on her lip as she did, 'Except perhaps you.'

Ciel decided to ignore the last minute addition to Neo's comment, focusing on the first half.

'Well, I... you certainly deserve some sort of punishment for your crimes... however, as you are underage, perhaps it doesn't have to be quite so... severe.'

Neo smirked.

'Punishment, you say? I bet you tell all the girls that.'

Ciel frowned in confusion before blushing.

'That's highly inappropriate!'

Neo giggles silently.

'Dear me! You have quite the dirty mind, gorgeous! Who would have ever though such a thing!'

Ciel blushed further.

'Perhaps I could be convinced to repent for my crimes... should I be properly persuaded.'

Before Ciel could demand Neo properly explain what she had meant by that particular statement, the train began to slow.

Neo sat in her seat quickly and silently.

Penny turned to face them, smiling innocently, clearly having not seen any of their conversation.

Ciel's mouth was dry, and she hadn't the slightest clue what to say to the other girl.

/

Ciel shook her head to clear it, focusing on the present.

A few guards were leading Neo away, two of them holding her chains.

Neo glanced over her shoulder and saw Ciel watching her. She smirked and seemed to sway her hips more purposefully and dramatically.

Penny turned to face her partner, smiling broadly.

"We've completes our first mission successfully! Congratulations, Ciel!"

Ciel was attempting to shift her attention from the criminal to Penny, but before she could, Neo spun on her heel.

She lifted her leg into the air, setting it on a guard's arm and pulling, sending him flying to the ground with the force.

As he did, she set her foot on his hand, stepping down until he let go of her chains.

Neo grabbed the chain with her free hand, swinging it toward the other guard and hitting him in the chest. He tumbled to the ground and let go of the rest of her chains as he struggled to breathe, clutching his chest.

Another guard rounded on her, holding a gun up.

Neo scoffed slightly, rolling her eyes even as she threw herself forward.

She flipped through the air, throwing her chains forward with momentum as she landed, slamming them against the guard.

The guard dropped, groaning quietly.

She turned on the last guard, who held her weapon on his back.

She raised an eyebrow, giving him the opportunity to withdraw and leave her weapon, letting her go.

The guard raised his own weapon, and Neo stepped forward delicately.

The fight had happened quickly, so quickly that nobody else had been able to respond so far. So she allowed herself the opportunity to glance over her shoulder and wink at Ciel, who was watching in shocked silence.

Neo took down the last guard with a swift double kick to the chest, picking up her umbrella afterwards.

She heard footsteps behind her, and she spun.

Team RWBY and Penny were racing toward her, and she smirked.

She raised her umbrella, and shattered.

She reappeared behind Ciel, tapping her shoulder.

The girl turned, shocked, and Neo gave her a wide smirk.

Neo reaches into her pocket and pulled out a note. She leaned forward and set it down behind Ciel's hair and shattered again, disappearing from the crowded train station.

Ciel was shocked for a moment before she reached behind her ear and retrieved the note.

It was written hurriedly, that much was clear, and in a looping scrawl that was surprisingly close to calligraphy for a criminal.

Gorgeous,

I really did enjoy our time together. I'll be in touch.

Neo

Ciel heard footsteps approaching, and she panicked, slipping the note into her pocket.

Penny arrived, eyes concerned.

"I saw that she teleported to you, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Penny."

"What did she do?"

Ciel hesitated.

"Nothing. She did nothing."


	9. Maidens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIVEEEEE!  
> *insert that one Mushu meme*

Emerald took deep, haggard breaths, staring at her arm. It was blackened and shadowed now, and she flexed the fingers almost experimentally.

The sound of heeled footsteps caused her to look up, eyes falling on Salem.

The woman leaned down, setting her ice cold fingers on Emerald's chin, tilting her head up silently so they could look each other in the eyes.

Emerald was lost in impossibly black eyes, seeming to such the light out of the room around her.

"Atlas."

Emerald took a shuddering breath.

"What?"

"The Winter Maiden and the Staff of Creation are in Atlas. You're to return with it."

Emerald nodded, and the fingers dig into her skin. She hissed as the blackened nails broke through her skin.

"Don't fail me like Cinder did."

Emerald inhaled sharply, but nodded.

Salem relaxed her grip on Emerald.

"Now go. When you return, maybe I'll let you fetch the Spring Maiden for me."

Emerald scrambled out of the room, finding Mercury and a few others waiting for her.

"Evening, ma'am," a man with an extravagant mustache said, tipping his hat to her.

"Pleasure to serve."

"Speak for yourself," Mercury grumbled.

"Please, hehehe... you don't serve her, you serve the mistress."


	10. Mantle

“Is this Atlas?” Ruby asked, looking at the crowded streets. It wasn’t anything like what she’d heard of or seen in pictures.

Weiss scoffed.

“This? No, this is Mantle,” the heiress pointed up at the sky, “that’s Atlas.”

Ruby was mesmerized by the sight of a city, which seemed to float in place.

“How does it do that?” she asked.

Weiss sighed.

“If you’d paid attention in class, you would have known that it’s held up by dust,” she said.

“Aww, c’mon, Angel. Can’t blame Ruby for getting distracted when both you and Blake are in class,” Yang said, smirking.

Weiss blushed slightly and she glared at Yang, who started laughing.

“It’s way too easy to make you embarrassed,” she commented.

Weiss huffed, crossing her arms against her chest.

“Yang, stop teasing her,” Blake said, wrapping her arm around Weiss’ waist loosely.

The heiress stiffened slightly, eyes searching for any bystanders.

Blake instantly let go of Weiss, curling in on herself slightly.

“Right. I forgot,” she said quietly.

Weiss cursed internally.

“Blake, that’s not-”

“No, I understand. Can’t have anyone else thinking you’re friends with a faunus, much less dating one.”

Weiss grimaced.

“Blake, that’s not it! I’m very proud to be dating you... it’s just...,” she trailed off.

“Your father, I know,” Blake said.

Weiss could see the hurt in Blake’s eyes, so she made a decision.

She slipped her hand into Blake’s own, and the faunus jumped, looking down at her.

Weiss gave her a small smile, squeezing Blake’s hand with her own.

Blake smiled loving at her, and Weiss felt her heart melting.

“I’d never be embarrassed of you,” she whispered.

Blake ran her thumb along the back of Weiss’ hand gently, looking ahead at the aircraft they were being shepherded toward.

Ruby looked excited at the prospect of flying up to the floating city, grabbing Yang’s arm and tugging her forward. Her sister let herself be dragged ahead of their girlfriends, glancing over her shoulder once to give them both a grin.

Blake and Weiss stepped onto the aircraft together, gaining an odd look from one of the workers.

Blake hesitated, and Weiss tightened her hold on her hand, leading her to a pair of seats.

When they sat down, Weiss set her head on Blake’s shoulder, placing her free hand on top of the faunus’ leg.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Blake smiled down at her adoringly.

“It’s alright,” she whispered back.

-

The four walked out of the aircraft, staring at the massive school in front of them.

Weiss grimaced.

She’d decided to go to Beacon because she didn’t want to go to school in Atlas, so close to her father.

Blake squeezed her hand supportively.

Weiss smiled back at her as they were led into the school.

A few news reporters were watching and discussing the new students at Atlas.

“After the fall of Beacon, students were forced to fight for their lives against hordes of Grimm. Some reports say that the White Fang took part in the attack, and that the local leader, Adam Taurus, was killed in the chaos,” the woman spun, her eyes locking on Blake.

“Do you have anything to say on the topic, miss?”

Blake’s eyes widened in panic.

“Why are you asking her?” Weiss snapped defensively.

“Ms. Schnee,” the reporter’s eyes sparkled in excitement, “pleasure to see you made it out of the attack safely.”

“With help from my team, I did,” Weiss said rather possessively.

“You’re Blake Belladonna, yes?” the woman asked relentlessly.

Blake could only nod.

“And this must be the rest of team RWBY, then,” she said, not pausing for affirmation.

“There’s been many questions about you, Blake,” she said, preparing to launch into a myriad of said questions.

Weiss gave her a fake smile.

“I’m sure there have. She’s a very interesting person. Thank you for your time, but my team and I must be going. Have a good day,” she said.

Weiss dragged Blake away from the report, Ruby and Yang following after the pair hurriedly.

“Thanks,” Blake mumbled.

“It was nothing.”

Blake was about to respond, but a figure appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

“Friends!” Penny cried enthusiastically.

“Allow me to show you around the school!” she said.

“You’ve been here?” Ruby asked, surprised.

“Yes! My father works for General Ironwood, the headmaster! I was trained here!”

Ruby nodded and happily followed the energetic girl into the school, forcing the rest of the team to follow her.

“Hey, Penny?” Weiss asked, glancing at Yang, who was yawning.

“Yes, Friend Weiss?”

“Do you know where we’ll be sleeping tonight?”

“Yes! It’s the last stop on my tour!”

Weiss forced a smile.

“Great.”

Yang quietly groaned, yawning once again.

The tour was long, almost half an hour, and Weiss was able to cut it short by pointing out that Yang was half asleep where she stood, leaning against Blake.

“Oh! Yes! I almost forgot that you four must be quite tired from the fighting earlier!”

Weiss internally corrected the other girl. It had technically been last night, but they’d been up since then.

Penny showed them to their rooms, and the four girls threw their bags onto the ground unceremoniously.

Yang flopped onto one of the bottom bunks, but before grabbing a pillow from the top once.

Weiss smiled just slightly.

The beds were small, undoubtedly twin sized, but Yang had already pushed herself up against the wall, her arms open just slightly.

Blake grabbed Weiss’ hand again, having dropped it once they’d entered the room, and pulled Weiss toward Yang.

Before they reached her, the heiress snatched another pillow, tossing it at the blond.

“You’ll hurt your back like that. Use this,” she demanded.

Yang smiled broadly, accepting the pillow and putting it behind her shoulders as Blake laid down beside her.

Weiss took a seat and instantly felt Blake’s arms wrapping around her waist.

The heiress smiled, laying her head on the faunus’ shoulder.

“I love you,” Blake whispered as Weiss’ put her arm around her stomach.

“I love you, too,” Weiss said.

Ruby threw herself onto the bed, shaking the four of them as she reached her arm around Weiss and Blake, just barely touching the tips of her hair.

Weiss rolled her eyes and Blake smiled slightly.

Weiss leaned forward and gently connected her lips with Blake’s, trying to pour her love and apology through the contact.

Blake instantly pulled her closer, clearly radiating with the same emotions.

“Never thought I’d be a third wheel in my own relationship,” Yang said.

Blake elbowed her, and she yelped.

When Weiss pulled back, Blake gave her a small, fond smile, which she found herself reciprocating.

“Goodnight,” Weiss said, burrowing her head into Blake’s neck.

The sisters both huffed, but closed their eyes, pulling their girlfriends closer to them.

The four were asleep soon after.

-

Ciel stepped into her room, and was immediately met by a note on her pillow.

Dear Gorgeous,

I see you didn’t tell anyone about my note. That’s a good sign. I promised I’d be in touch. Be on the balcony tonight, midnight.

Neo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the fluff! You’ll get a chapter or two more... then the story will slap you.


	11. Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: words between ‘these’ represent sign language!

Ciel stared at the note in her hands, fiddling with the paper hesitantly.

She should tell someone about this. She should report this to someone. She should attempt to get this criminal in jail.

And yet, Ciel found herself slipping the paper into her pocket, glancing at her watch.

Midnight was in three hours. She had that long to make a decision.

-

Winter slowly strode down the hallway, arms folded behind her back. She walked like a cat, stalking purposefully with the click of her heels against the floor.

She stopped in front of a doorway, rapping her knuckles against the wooden panel.

There was the sound of scrambling and surprised voices. After a moment, the distinct thunk of a person falling against the floor resonated in Winter’s ears.

The door opened, and a slightly disheveled Pyrrha smiled at her.

“Hello,” she said kindly, “You’re Weiss’ sister, correct?”

Winter nodded, sneaking a glanced past Pyrrha to see what had caused the commotion.

A small girl sat on the bed, her hair a bit tangled and her breathing deep. Winter recognized her, after a moment of thought, as the girl Ozpin had informed General Ironwood of. She had been with Pyrrha and a young man when the Fall Maiden died.

“I need to speak to you about seasonal matters,” Winter said.

Pyrrha frowned for a moment before her eyes widened slightly.

“Oh, yes, of course. Give me just a moment, please.”

Winter assented to the request, and Pyrrha closed the door.

She could hear the voices of the two girls despite the closed door.

“I’ll be back in a while, Ilia.”

“Is it about...”

“Yes, it is.”

“Be careful.”

“I will be.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The door opened again, and Winter raised a singular eyebrow.

“Have you told anyone about your predicament?”

Pyrrha shook her head, and Winter stared down at her intently.

“Maybe...”

“Who?”

Pyrrha was silent.

“What would you do to them?”

“Assure myself that they do not intend to share any information you accidentally shared in your shocked state.”

“Team RWBY and my team.”

“And your girlfriend?”

“She was there.”

“But did you tell her?”

“Yes.”

Winter made a mental note to tell General Ironwood of the students, though she was slightly hesitant of telling him about her sister’s team.

What would he do to them? He certainly wouldn’t harm anyone, of course... but she wanted to keep Weiss out of this, just in case things got messy.

Winter led Pyrrha outside into a courtyard. Atlas was always windy due to its high elevation, and today was no different. The wind made a loud background noise that made Winter more comfortable with speaking frankly.

“Fall, correct?”

“Yes.”

“I am next in line for Winter.”

Pyrrha turned to stare at her in shock.

“You are?”

“Yes.”

“Is she... injured?”

“She’s old, and her mind is deteriorating. I’m the only person she’s allowed to see.”

“I see. If it makes you feel better, Cinder, the woman that almost killed Amber, is dead.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“It’s not me you should thank. Without Ilia and Jaune, I’d be dead, and she’d be the Maiden, not me.”

“I’ll be sure to tell the General that.”

Pyrrha smiled at her brilliantly.

“I am, however, surprised that Professor Ozpin allowed you to stay in school.”

“It took a lot of work on my part.”

“I’ll speak to the General about your friend staying here.”

“Thank you.”

“I would love to stay and chat,” Winter said, “but I must speak to General Ironwood.”

“Of course. Thank you for speaking with me.”

“No, thank you.”

With that, Winter strode out of the courtyard, leaving Pyrrha alone.

At least, she assumed she was alone, until she watched Ilia step into existence.

She’d been standing against a wall, in the shadows, and she now stepped out of the darkness, her skin seeming to suddenly blossom into color.

Pyrrha was shocked for a moment before slightly smiling.

“Did you follow us?”

Her scales bled a light pink color as she nodded.

“I was worried she might try to hurt you.”

Pyrrha chuckled.

“Thank you for worrying, but I can take care of myself, I promise.”

“I know, I know,” Ilia said.

“Come on, I need to go talk to someone.”

Pyrrha slid her hand into Ilia’s, threading their fingers together, and led the faunus along behind her.

-

A light knocking on the door caused Weiss’ eyes to flutter open.

“Go away,” she mumbled, burying her face deeper into Blake’s neck.

“I’m sorry to interrupt... again, but this is urgent,” Pyrrha called from outside.

Blake’s eye peeked open.

“How urgent?”

“Very.”

Yang groaned loudly.

“Fine, but we’re not getting up. And try not to wake up Ruby.”

Pyrrha pushed open the door and blushed slightly when she saw the team curled up against one another.

Ruby was wrapped around Weiss, her leg thrown over the heiress, with one arm reaching over her and resting on Blake’s head, one finger gently set on her ears. Weiss was laying on her side, her arms both around Blake with her face pressed up between her neck and collar bone. Blake was holding Weiss around the waist, laying on her back, with her other side pressed up against Yang. Yang was reaching across Weiss and Blake, her arms set across the pair and her lead reaching to touch Ruby just slightly.

Ilia rolled her eyes at the four and Pyrrha cleared her throat.

Three pairs of eyes landed on her, but nobody moved from their comfortable positions.

“Close the door,” Ruby mumbled, eyes still shut.

Yang tapped her with her foot.

Ruby moaned and slapped Yang’s leg, curling up against Weiss even closer.

Ilia shut the door, and Pyrrha moved closer to the four.

“Weiss, I thought that you’d like to know that your sister is next in line for the Winter Maiden’s power.”

Weiss shot completely awake.

“She is?!”

“Yes. I’m not supposed to tell you, but I thought you had the right to know.”

Weiss nodded, sitting up slightly.

“Thank you for telling me, Pyrrha.

“You’re welcome. I’ll... leave you four alone now.”

Hey Ilia.

“Hey, Blake.”

“Hello, Ilia,” she said, sitting up slightly.

“When did Winter tell you this?” Weiss asked.

“Just a few minutes ago.”

“Thank you again, Pyrrha.”

“Anytime, Weiss.”

-

Ciel pushed open the door to her balcony, stepping out into the cold, feeling the ever present wind whipping around her face.

She glanced at her watch.

It was exactly midnight, and she was starting to have doubts.

What if this was just a prank?

Or maybe Neo was going to kidnap her and try to-

Before Ciel could finish that thought, Neo appeared from the shadows, her body shifting back to its nature shade.

She stood, leaning on her parasol slightly, and smirked at Ciel.

‘Fancy seeing you here,’ she signed.

“You asked me to be here,” Ciel said, crossing her arms

‘Someone’s grumpy.’

“What do you want from me Neo?”

‘Can’t I just want to have a friendly talk?’

“You can’t talk.”

‘Ouch. Low blow, Gorgeous,’ Neo said, though her smirk widened.

“You has to have a reason to want to talk to me.”

‘Maybe I just enjoy your company.’

“Do you?” Ciel asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘I do, in fact. Do you enjoy mine?’

“You’re a criminal.”

‘That’s not a no.’

Ciel supposed it wasn’t.

“You shouldn’t be here. You’ll probably be caught.”

Neo laughed silently.

‘Only been caught once, Gorgeous. I’m sneaky.’

“This is what you call sneaky? Arranging a meeting with a student on military and school property?”

‘And yet here I stand, free as can be.’

Ciel didn’t comment on that.

‘So, why haven’t you turned me in?’

“I...,” Ciel paused, thinking, “I don’t know.”

‘I think I know.’

“Then why am I here?”

‘You’re a smart woman, I’ll let you figure it out.’

“What makes you say that?”

‘I can tell. You’re not very subtle about your intelligence. I like that.’

Ciel raised an eyebrow.

“Well, if you won’t tell me why I’m here, I might as well know the next best thing.”

‘Which is?’

“Why are you here?”

‘I’m sorry, Gorgeous, but I’ll have to let you figure that out for yourself too.’

“Then why did you run away? You probably wouldn’t have gotten more than a slap on the wrist.”

‘My wrists are very delicate. Small bones, and all.’

Ciel laughed quietly, and Neo grinned.

“You’re lucky I’m not turning you in.”

‘This isn’t about luck?’

“Then what’s it about?”

Neo took a step forward, twirling her parasol slightly as she invaded Ciel’s personal space.

‘Charm, Gorgeous. It’s all about charm.’

“You’re not very charming.”

‘Is that so? You wound me, Gorgeous,’ Neo tapped a finger against her lip, ‘If I’m not charming, then why are you here?’

Ciel hesitated.

“Not because you’re charming, that’s for sure.”

‘Really? I always considered myself quite the snake charmer.’

“Calling me a snake? Not making a very good case for me not turning you in.”

‘What can I say? I’m not charming, apparently.’

Ciel laughed again, and Neo smirked.

‘As lovely as this has been, and trust me, Gorgeous, it has been, I really must be going.’

Neo leapt onto the fencing of the balcony, balancing easily.

‘I’ll be in touch.’

She saluted Ciel before tipping backwards off of the balcony and disappearing into the night.

Ciel watched her go, silent.

A single question stayed in her mind as she returned to her room.

Why hadn’t she turned the criminal in?


	12. Do I Need To Change The Tags?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This chapter has a death in it, so if it bothers you just skip it. The next chapter will tell you which one it is!

“All of both teams?”

“Yes, it seems that she isn’t as quiet as we assumed she’d be.”

“And she told that Ilia girl as well?”

“Yes,” Winter said.

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Indeed.”

“Have them sent to my office,” Ozpin said.

-

Tyrian laughed uncontrollably as his tail stabbed through the man’s chest, watching with glee as the life drained from the man’s eyes.

He was sure that, somewhere, Watts was hacking into the security systems of Mantle.

This murder wouldn’t be laid at Tyrian’s feet, but it would be on his hands.

Or, rather, his tail.

The idea made him laugh again.

-

Ozpin sighed, rubbing his temple.

This was going to be a long conversation, but he had to get it off of his chest.

He had to tell them everything.

Well... not everything, certainly, but what he’d told the General.

He had to tell them about the Maidens, the Relics, and Salem’s army.

But they needn’t know about his... past.

-

The conversation was... rough, but the students walked away more knowledgeable about current events than most people in the world.

Ozpin sighed, rubbing his temples.

He knew that General Ironwood wanted to tell everyone, and that was why he was building up the Amity Tower, but Ozpin was opposing him.

He just had to hold out a little longer and-

Ozpin gasped, clutching at his chest at the sudden pain.

He fell to the ground, writhing in agony and staring up at the man who had stabbed him.

Tyrian laughed maniacally, leaning down.

“And the funniest part? Nobody will ever believe it was me?”

Ozpin’s eyes fluttered shut, his final thoughts of the General.

What would be do while he was away?

He could only hope that he wouldn’t mess things up while he was away...

Ozpin breathed his last breath, his body convulsing a final time on the ground.

He wasn’t sure how much longer it was before he opened them again, this time in the body of a small farm boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I need to change my tags? Is this a major character death?


	13. Team Names

The death was sudden and shocking to the student body, as well as the media.

The articles were crass and downright disrespectful.

"Atlas Security Down the Drain?"

"Ironwood Unfit For Leadership!"

"Jacques Announces Campaign For Representative!"

Weiss almost threw her scroll across the room as she read the final headline.

"A man died and he's using it as a political move!" she hissed.

Ruby put a comforting hand on her arm.

"You don't know that."

"I do," she growled, hands clenched.

"Who would want to kill Ozpin?" Yang asked quietly.

"Why would someone do this?!"

"It was one of Salem's people," the General said, "but it looks bad. The media knew he and I were having disagreements. And he's not the only man that died last night."

"What? Who else died?" Pyrrha asked.

Team RWBY, team JNPR, Ilia, Penny, Winter, and General Ironwood were sitting in a room together, discussing what had happened. After everything Ozpin had told them, these were the only people aware of Salem and, therefore, what could have truly happened last night.

"A critic of mine. The second one this week," Ironwood said.

"They're trying to blame this on you? Why?"

"I'm not sure. But I do know one thing. The Amity plan is our only hope."

"What's the Amity plan?" Ruby asked.

"We need to finish the communications tower, and finally let everyone know about Salem and the war."

"I thought Ozpin wanted to keep this quiet," Yang said.

"But Ozpin isn't here anymore, is he? This is our only move."

"What about the relics? Shouldn't we getting them?" Pyrrha said.

General Ironwood stroked his beard.

"I have a man checking on the other schools to make sure they fortify their relics. Should he report anything, I'll send your teams."

"Yes, Sir," Pyrrha said.

"Who is it?" Ruby asked.

"Doesn't matter," he snapped.

There was a moment of silence before Ironwood spoke again.

"I'm going to step up the training for the schools, send some students out with registered Hunters and Huntresses. I'm sending you with the Ace Ops."

"The what?" Ruby asked.

Weiss leaned over to whisper in her girlfriend's ear.

"They're Atlas' finest military Hunters and Huntresses."

Blake overhead and explained to a confused Yang.

"Take a break tonight. Tomorrow's going to be a long day," General Ironwood said, dismissing them with a wave of the hand.

As the two teams left, Nora suddenly spoke.

"Is Ilia a member of our team?" she asked.

This shocked several of them, and they looked over at her.

Ilia paled slightly, her scales turning white.

"Team leader?" Pyrrha asked, smiling slightly at Jaune.

"Let's take a vote. All for Ilia of our team?"

Four hands raised.

"Does that make our team name JNIPR?! IT'S THE SAME!" Nora cried enthusiastically.

"I... guess?" Jaune asked.

"Nora, was that all you were thinking about during the meeting?" Ren asked, voice as monotone as ever.

A beat of silence.

"Maybe."

"Did you hear anything the General said?"

"Yeah, yeah. Death, destruction, unstoppable evil, plans, Ace Ops, blah, blah, blah. We're still team JNIPR!"

Ilia stared at Nora.

"Is... is she always like this?" she asked.

Pyrrha nodded sagely.

Ilia chuckled, shaking her head and internally wondering if she should be worried about her new place in team JNIPR.

-

Penny excitedly made her way down the hallway, leading her father down the hallway.

"You're going to love my friends, Father!" she said.

"I'm sure I will, sweetie, but can you slow down?" he asked, his chair struggling to keep up with her.

"Oh, right! I'm sorry, I was just excited."

"I know."

Winter turned a corner and stopped mid-step, looking at the two.

"Friend Winter! You were just the person I was hoping to find!"

Winter smiled at her slightly.

"Is that so?" she asked cautiously.

Penny didn't seem to notice, and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! Friend Winter, this is my father! Father, this is my friend, Special Agent Winter Schnee!"

Penny's father adjusted his glasses for a minute, smiling up at her.

"My, my. So this is the girl you won't stop talking about?"

Penny nodded excitedly, and Winter smirked just slightly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Polendina," Winter said, offering him her hand.

He leaned up slightly and shook it.

"The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Schnee. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

"Please, Sir, I'm more than happy to do so."

Winter smiled thinly, glancing at Penny, who was watching the two of them happily.

Her father raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

He had done some research about Winter Schnee as soon as he had heard his daughter mention her, and had never once seen a picture of her smiling, whether in interviews or paparazzi pictures.

And yet she smiled easily when she watched Penny.

As Penny excitedly carried on the conversation, he caught a slightly fond look in Winter's eyes as she watched her.

-

After Penny had introduced her father to Winter, she gleefully led him to teams RWBY and JNIPR, who were in the middle in a conversation about the meeting, which had been held a few hours ago now.

He noticed that Penny was slightly more subdued now as she talked to these friends, though she was still adamantly enthused (especially with Ruby).

As he helped them with the new weapons he'd promised them, he wondered why that was.

Perhaps he would need to take a look at her data logs.

-

Ciel had just met with Penny's father, and had finally been dubbed "Friend Ciel!" by the excitable redhead, which made her far happier than it should have.

She took a step at her desk, opening her laptop and preparing to do some homework.

However, once she'd opened it, she found a message scrawled in oddly pristine handwriting.

Turn around, it read.

Ciel turned, gasping in shock and expecting to find the criminal behind her.

Instead, she was met with another note, which was stuck to her bedpost.

Haha, got ya! But seriously, look up.

She glanced up and saw another note, this one stuck to the ceiling.

She was forced to climb to the top of her bedpost to reach it, and she pulled it down, slightly irritable.

Wish I coulda seen little miss perfect climbing on the bed. By the way, I'll see you tonight, Gorgeous.

Neo

Ciel slipped the three notes into a notebook, sticking them to the back page where she had begun collecting each letter Neopolitan gave her. In case she needed to use them as evidence. Of course.

Ciel glanced at the final note, frowning.

Last time she'd been given a time. When was Neo going to be there tonight?


	14. The Flyer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't update yesterday. To make up for it, have a 2k+ word chapter plus another chapter (of unknown length, but probably pretty long) today!

General Ironwood rapped his fist against the desk, one hand stroking his beard in thought.

"Are we following through with this?" he asked Winter, glancing up at her.

"It was promised to the students. It could be good for moral."

General Ironwood raised his hand and made a shooing gesture with it.

"So be it."

-

"The ball? It's still being held?" Ren asked, mildly surprised.

Nora grinned and showed him the flyer, which had been taped to their door.

"It's tomorrow!"

Ilia flushed and glanced at Pyrrha, shuffling one of her feet and scraping it against the floor.

The redhead subtly grabbed onto Ilia's hand, pulling her out of the room and leaving her teammates behind them.

"Ilia, will you do me the honor of being my date to the Vytal Tournament Festival Ball?"

Ilia flushed, but stopped herself from immediately answering.

There was a moment of silence, and Pyrrha frowned in worry.

"Ilia?"

"Why did you settle?" she asked hurriedly.

"What?" Pyrrha responded, confused.

"Why did you settle for me? You're THE Pyrrha Nikos! You could have pretty much any guy or girl you wanted! So why... why did you settle for me? A scrawny ex member of the White Fang."

Pyrrha seemed taken aback at the question, and she shook her head.

"Ilia, I didn't settle for you. I picked you because I love you. I love your innocent soul that's survived even though it's been hurt. I love your kind nature. I love your tenacity and your dedication, your loyalty. Ilia, you saved my life, but that's not why I fell for you. I fell for you because of who you are, and you're more than you give yourself credit for being."

Pyrrha had grabbed Ilia's hand in her own, and she was leaned down so that they could look each other in the eyes.

"You're an amazing person, Ilia, and I'm proud to call you my partner."

Ilia's scales were now bright red, and Pyrrha ran her free hand along them, chuckling slightly at the shade. She always found it adorable when she did that.

"So, will you do me the honor of being my date?"

Ilia nodded, not trusting her voice. If she spoke, she might burst into tears or her voice might crack.

Pyrrha smiled and closed the distance between them, sealing the moment with a gentle kiss.

Ilia melted into her, wrapping her arms around the other girl's shoulders and not letting her escape the embrace.

Pyrrha had no intention of leaving, but instead looped her arms around Ilia's waist, hefting her into the air and holding her almost reverently.

"How much longer do we give them?" Jaune whispered to Ren.

"They're being gross," Nora whined quietly.

"You don't have to watch," Ren told her.

"And they need a few more minutes, Jaune."

The knight crossed his arms.

"It's not their fault you missed your chance," Nora said sagely, patting Jaune on the arm as she turned and made her way toward the back of the room.

Jaune growled at her, and she grinned.

Pyrrha and Ilia, finally, pulled away from each other. Ilia giggled as Pyrrha set her down, taking her girlfriend's hand in her own.

Pyrrha led her into the dorm room again, a small grin still on her face.

Nora teased them for a few minutes, but stopped when she realized it wasn't making Ilia embarrassed, but instead rather smug and proud.

-

Coco sat up in bed, holding the flyer Fox had thrown at her face.

She grinned, eyes shooting across the room at where Velvet sat.

"Hey, Velvs," she waved the flyer in the air, "wanna come with me?"

Velvet read the flyer quickly and blushed. She nodded quickly, and Coco stood, intent to get a bit of a... reward for her question, but Yatsu and Fox groaned, stopping her in her tracks.

"Can you two not be disgusting for one minute?" Fox asked.

Coco pretended to consider.

"No."

With that, she took her girlfriend in her arms, kissing her soundly while Fox groaned.

"I can HEAR it," he moaned.

-

Pietro glanced at his daughter, who was sitting on the inspection table and gently humming.

He smiled fondly. He hadn't programmed her to hum. He hadn't even programmed in what a hum was. She really was learning... she WAS alive. He knew it. She had taken a bit of his aura, but she had made it her own, expanded it.

He told her to lean back, and he pulled out a wire, connecting it to an outlet behind her neck.

"If I may ask, Father, why are we doing this?"

"I just want to have a look at your interpersonal relationship files."

"Okay!"

Pietro opened up said files, smiling slightly as he saw the first one.

It was, of course, Winter.

He clicked through, and found the most peculiar thing.

It was no longer a documentation of Winter's traits (both internal and external), but instead he found a list of thoughts and pictures. The most popular type of picture was that of the special agent smiling, if thinly, at Penny.

As Pietro dig deeper, he found... colors?

"Penny, can you explain these to me?" he asked.

Penny leaned over to see what he was pointing at, and she grinned.

"Oh! The colors are a physical manifestations of my sensations around a particular person."

"Do... do you mean your feelings?"

Penny grinned.

"Yes! Friend Winter explained this to me. These are my... personal feelings."

Pietro clicked through a few different files, specifically those Penny now referred to as friends, and found their files were quite similar to Winter's. Except they were smaller than the first, and lacked the odd, almost hesitant shade of pink that Winter's file had had.

-

Team RWBY was seated calmly in their dorm room, speaking quietly to one another about the events of the past few days, when a paper was slipped under the door frame.

Weiss picked it up, reading over its contents quickly.

Just a moment after she'd finished, Yang stole the flyer from her hands and the other three read it.

There was an awkward silence that hung in the air, almost blanketing them like a physical force.

Ruby was the first to break it, as always.

"So... are we breaking into pairs or...," she trailed off.

"I'm fine going with both of you. And I guess Ruby too, if she tags along," Yang said.

Ruby slapped her arm.

"I guess it's up to Weiss," Blake said.

The heiress froze, glancing between her girlfriends.

She considered for a long moment.

If she went with one of them, then at least she would appear... normal. And it could be seen as going with a friend, right? If she went with all three of them, then maybe media or anyone watching would see it as going with multiple friends! That was a comforting thought, right? Or she could... go alone. And let Ruby and Yang go with Blake on their own.

Because that's what they wanted, right? To be able to go out in public with the people they loved and not worry about what anyone else would say or do about it.

Weiss found that, deep inside, she wanted that too.

But could she have it? Could she EVER have it? Could she ever have the freedom she dreamed of? Or would there always be the shadow of her father looming over her? The idea was sickening.

She could see what would happen if she went alone. The evening would be horrible, and lonely. Her girlfriends would have a good time, though they'd claim they'd missed her and hated every second of the outing. But Weiss would be watching them, and seeing the way Blake and the two sisters interacted.

And this would become a pattern. Weiss would go alone, and the three would go together. And over time, she'd be left behind. They wouldn't think to ask if she had wanted to come with, because of course she didn't.

And then, as time passed, Weiss would slowly be left behind, until she was forgotten. They would claim they hadn't forgotten her, but she'd know, and she'd watch them slowly slip from her grasp.

No, she couldn't let that happen.

"We can all go together."

-

Ciel sat in her room, trying to do her work, but she kept glancing at her watch.

It was a little past ten, and she was starting to wonder...

A tapping on her window shook her from her thoughts.

Ciel's hand shot to her weapon, which sat on her hip, for a moment.

Her eyes landed on the window, and she calmed slightly.

Neopolitan waved at her, face barely visible in the window.

Ciel raised an eyebrow at the criminal, who grinned almost smugly.

Ciel sighed and leaned forward, opening the window enough for the other girl to crawl through.

Neo landed gracefully on her table, though she did knock over a few papers that Ciel had been working on.

"Move," Ciel snapped, trying to keep her important documents from being squished beneath the criminal.

Neo huffed, crossing her arms. Ciel glared at her, though there was hardly any malice in it.

Neo rolled her eyes and dropped from the table, stalking through the room while Ciel fixed her papers.

When she turned around, Neo was holding a familiar flyer in her hand, and she pointed at Ciel.

"Yes, there's a ball tomorrow."

Neo considered for a moment.

'Are you going?' she signed.

Ciel paused.

"I'm... not sure."

'Do you not have a date?'

Ciel scoffed, shaking her head.

"No, I don't."

'So... you're not going?'

"I just told you I'm not sure. If it were just me, I'd probably stay in tomorrow night. But Penny seems very excited for the ball, so she'll probably drag me along with her."

Neo paused for a moment, thinking.

'You should go.'

Ciel frowned.

"Why?"

Neo shrugged, though there was a slight smirk on her face.

'Who knows? Maybe you'll have fun.'

"Did you come here tonight just to encourage me to have a social life?"

'Definitely not.'

"Then why are you here."

Neo's smirk widened.

'A girl can only go so long without seeing you, Gorgeous.'

Ciel wasn't sure why, but she felt her face heating up.

"Or maybe a girl can only go so long without trying to get information about General Ironwood," Ciel said, crossing her arms.

Neo waved a hand.

'I don't care about that idiot. The only things I've asked you about were you, Gorgeous.'

Ciel considered.

That was... technically true, but she didn't exactly want to admit it.

"You're telling me that you risk getting caught every night just to come and see me?" Ciel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Neo nodded.

"And why would anyone ever do something that stupid?"

'Some things are worth risking yourself. And you, Gorgeous, are worth risking everything.'

Ciel flushed again, but she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please," she said.

Neo took a few steps forward, putting herself in Ciel's personal space.

'Trust me, I'd risk a whole lot more to try and see that beautiful smile of yours.'

"I'm not exactly a smiler."

'That's what makes it such a rare, priceless treasure.'

Ciel fought it, but a small smile graced her face.

Neo broke out in a grin.

'Oh my, it seems that the treasure was far too much for my fragile heart. Just like Icarus, I must have flown too close to the sun, for its radiance has burned me.'

"Why are you so dramatic?" Ciel found she was still smirking just slightly, and attempted to stop.

'Why, Gorgeous, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about! You wound me with your question! Ah, my poor heart, it seems to have broken. Who are you, to have broken the heart of a hardened criminal? Why, perhaps that makes you more criminal than even I!'

Ciel rolled her eyes, her smile widening just slightly.

Neo grinned again, taking a step back.

'Alas, it seems that I must withdraw, but I'll think of you every minute until we are next brought back together by the tides of fate.'

"Were you always this corny?" Ciel asked.

'Yes, you just didn't notice.'

With that, Neo stepped out onto the balcony, dropping off the edge just as she had the night before.

Ciel closed the window and door, attempting to get back to her work.

But she suddenly found that she couldn't concentrate, nor could she wipe the smile off of her face.


	15. Having a Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright! I have the second one of the day, I promised you and you received! Exactly 3760 words! Enjoy!!!

The ball was hastily thrown together, but it certainly didn't appear that way. It was to be held in a beautiful hall, which was usually a cafeteria, with tasteful decorations, such as white streamers and delicate tables. The makeshift ballroom made Winter smile thinly. The ball was supposed to start in half an hour, and she had finally finished helping set it up.

The sound of metallic footsteps clicking across tile floor caused Winter to turn. Pietro sat in front of her, his chair coming to a stop slowly.

"Hello, Mr. Polendina. To what do I owe the pleasure of our meeting?" she asked. She felt slightly awkward at his appearance.

"I was looking for you, actually."

"You were? May I ask why?" Winter asked. Had she not been very good at holding her composure, she was sure she'd be sweating.

Pietro glanced around at the rest of the room's occupants.

"Can we talk in private, please?"

Winter nodded and followed him out of the room.

"Is this about your daughter, Sir?" Winter asked when they had gotten out of hearing distance from everyone else.

"Yes, it is. I was looking through her system," Winter frowned at the callous words, "and I noticed something new."

"Is she alright?" Winter asked, finding that her mask slipped slightly in her worry.

This seemed to make Pietro smile, and he shook his head.

"She's fine, Winter. Her programming just seems more... human."

Winter forced herself not to smile.

"Really? How so?"

"Her interpersonal relationships are... far more complex than expected."

"I'm not surprised."

Pietro watched her and leaned forward in his chair, watching her intently.

"She cares for you greatly, Winter. I don't know much about you, other than your reputation. Don't hurt her. She may act like an informed adult in most ways, but she's hardly more than a child in others. Hurting her would be easy. But I assure you that if you do, I will make you regret the day you took this job."

"I don't plan to hurt her, Sir. I won't."

Pietro looked her up and down.

"You care for her?"

"More than you know."

Pietro sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.

"Agent Schnee, she's not ready."

Winter instantly dropped all pretenses.

"I'm aware."

"You need to be careful with her."

"I plan to."

"You might never get what you want."

"I'm used to that."

Pietro sighed again, looking up at her.

"Well then... I wish you good luck."

"Thank you. Is there anything else you wished to discuss?"

"No. Just... listen to what I said," Pietro said.

Winter nodded, and the man turned his chair, having it carry him away from her.

Once she was sure she was alone, Winter sighed and ran a hand through her hair, cleaning it up slightly.

She entered the makeshift ballroom once again, and heard familiar footsteps. She turned to look at the approaching figure.

Penny was beaming and bouncing on her toes as she looked at Winter.

"Excited for the ball?" Winter asked kindly.

"Yes! I've even convinced Ciel to come as well! I wasn't sure she would be willing, but she seemed almost excited!"

Penny grabbed onto Winter's hands, and the agent felt her breath hitch.

"Will I be seeing you there, Friend Winter?"

"Yes, I suppose that you will be."

Penny smiled broadly, and Winter squeezed her hands before letting them go.

-

Yang sighed in frustration, glancing at her sister, who was still complaining about the dress she was being forced to wear for the ball.

Yang would have been far happier if Blake and Weiss were there, but she wasn't allowed to see either of them until the ball started.

She was stuck with a frustrating sister and neither of their dates.

Luckily for Yang, they were headed to the ball at the moment.

Ruby likely would have ran to the ballroom, but her heels were stopping her. This was something else she was complaining to her sister about.

Yang was ignoring her, and that became much easier when she entered the ballroom.

Her sister fell silent and the two looked around the room, intently looking for their dates.

When their eyes fell on Blake and Weiss, they both froze.

The two girls were wearing dresses, both of which fell down to a little under their knees, that were colored their respective shades.

Ruby and Yang hurried toward them, the older of the two having to catch their sister to save her face falling on her face.

Yang stopped Ruby just before she collided with Blake and Weiss, the two smiled at their girlfriends.

"Fancy seeing you two here," Yang said.

Weiss rolled her eyes, and Blake smiled slightly.

"What a coincidence," the faunus said.

Weiss sighed.

"You two are insufferable."

Yang grabbed onto Weiss' hand, pulling her closer.

"Yeah, we are," she said.

Weiss flushed as Yang leaned down, pulling the two flush against one another.

Blake rolled her eyes at the pair, turning to face Ruby.

"Hey," Blake said.

"You two look... beautiful," Ruby said, blushing slightly.

Blake felt heat in her face flush, and she smiled.

"You do too," Blake said.

Yang pulled back from Weiss, glancing at Ruby.

"You feeling happier about your outfit choice now, Rubes?"

Ruby glanced at her and glared slightly.

Yang laughed and turned to compliment her girlfriends.

-

Pyrrha walked into the ballroom, eyes searching intently for Ilia. She was excited for the ball, but was more excited to see her girlfriend.

She knew that Ilia wasn't sure why Pyrrha liked her, but Pyrrha certainly did. She was sweet and innocent and kind... those were all of the things she had liked about Jaune when they had first met. And Ilia had even talked to her like a normal person when they'd met, even though she'd recognized her.

Pyrrha's gaze fell on Ilia, her breath caught in her throat. She was wearing a short, sleeveless black dress, which she had highlighted by lightening her own scales to a white shade. The bright color of her scales seemed to make her face shine in its contrast to her dark dress.

Her eyes fell on Pyrrha, and her eyes grew excited as she waved almost shyly at her.

Pyrrha grinned and made her way across the ballroom to her date.

She held out her hand for Ilia, and the faunus took it. Pyrrha could feel her hand shaking.

"You look breathtaking," Pyrrha said, smiling down at her.

Ilia laughed awkwardly.

"You're one to talk."

Pyrrha heard the music starting up, and pulled the other girl toward the dance floor.

Ilia panicked slightly, and she shook her head.

"I'm... not really good at dancing," the faunus said.

"Neither am I," Pyrrha responded, remembering how she had attempted to learn that dance with her teammates. She wondered if they were still planning to do that tonight, and she hadn't gotten the chance to ask. She'd been too distracted thinking about the rest of the dance.

Ilia let herself be dragged out onto the dance floor, where she saw a few other couples dances.

Her eyes landed on Blake's team first.

Blake was leading Ruby through a waltz, the team leader's hands looped around her neck while Blake held her around the waist. Ruby gave her a loving look before she moved closer, putting her head on the other girl's shoulder.

Beside them, Weiss and Yang did the same. Yang was leading, but kept almost stepping on Weiss as she kept seeming to almost take the lead. After a minute, Yang laughed and let her take the lead of the dance. It was rather awkward with the height difference, but Weiss was clearly the better dancer of the two and led them with far more experience.

Yang glanced at her sister, hoping to give her a suffering look or some other sort of silent communication, but found her still staring at Blake lovingly. Yang chuckled and turned back to face Weiss, who tried to look serious as she led her through the dance. Yang used one of the hands she had looped around Weiss' neck to play with her hair. Weiss laughed and playfully glared at her.

"Stop it," she hissed.

Yang grinned and continued to do it until Weiss was happily laughing, her posture far more relaxed now as they continued to waltz.

Ilia waved at Blake, and her friend did the same back.

Pyrrha gently placed her hands on Ilia's hips and the faunus jumped slightly, glancing at her. When she saw Pyrrha's kind smile, she put her hands on the other girl's neck, barely reaching.

The two danced slowly beside Blake's team. Ilia tried to communicate with Blake for a few minutes, but found herself unable to distract herself from Pyrrha as the redhead stared down at her.

Neither of their eyes were able to leave the other's.

Blake saw Ilia's starstruck expression as she gazed at Pyrrha, and she smiled fondly when she saw the redhead looking at Ilia in the same way.

Ruby followed her gaze after a second and then tapped Blake's shoulder.

The cat faunus jumped and looked down at Ruby, confused.

"I'm glad they're happy," she said.

Blake nodded. She was happy too, but her eyes didn't leave Ruby's until the end of the dance.

When it finished, Yang spun Weiss for the first time, making the heiress shriek quietly, and she landed in Blake's arms.

"Aw, does that mean we have to sit out this time?" Ruby asked her sister, frowning.

Yang nodded, setting her hand on Ruby's sholder.

"But we can watch them be happy, and that's what's important," Yang said loud enough for their girlfriends to hear. It made them both smile widely.

Yang leaned down to whisper in her sister's ear.

"Plus, we can get to WATCH them."

Ruby frowned in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened.

"Oh!" she said loudly, and Yang rolled her eyes.

Blake kept her hands on Weiss' waist and guided the two of them through the dance, narrowly avoiding the two of them stepping on either of each other.

Weiss seemed tense and awkward still, and Yang gestured for her to relax. Ruby also aggressively motioned for her to move forward and put her head on Blake's shoulder. Weiss gave Ruby a shake of the head, and Ruby gestures more persistently.

Weiss took a second to consider. Afterwards, she moved forward a bit awkwardly, setting her head on Blake's shoulder gently.

Ruby grinned and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Weiss smiled and let her shoulders relax slowly, turning her gaze up to Blake.

The faunus seemed startled at the other girl's sudden relaxation.

Weiss gave her a smile, and Blake found herself losing her own tense nature.

As soon as that dance had ended, Ruby zipped forward, through the use of her semblance, and grabbed onto Weiss, twirling her enthusiastically.

The heiress sighed. Now that she was dating Ruby and Yang, she was sure that she would have to get used to being, quite literally, being thrown around.

Yang grabbed onto Blake's hands as the music started to speed up, leading her through an enthusiastic fast-paced dance.

Weiss tried to stop her, but Ruby enthusiastically twirled her. She groaned internally, but was able to keep her shriek from escaping this time.

She really was starting to get used to the two sister's and their insane ways. She supposed that was a good thing, but it was probably a bad one too, considering she would likely start to see their weirdness as normal. Which was undoubtedly going to be horrific down the road.

Blake let herself be led through the dance, laughing at Yang's playful nature. She was slightly distracted by two other figures for a moment.

Coco led Velvet onto the dance floor, twirling her into her arms.

The faunus let out a surprised noise, and Coco grinned.

Velvet chuckled and allowed herself to be spun through the dance as well.

Her eyes landed on Blake, and the two faunus smiled at one another for a minute before their respective partners led them through the dance.

Across the room, Penny watched her friends and classmates with an enthusiastic smile on her face.

A moment later, a thin form appeared beside her.

"I would have expected you to be dancing by now," Winter said.

"I would be, but it appears that nobody has wanted to join me yet. I'm hoping that Ruby will later when she's done with her team."

"I thought your teammate was joining you."

"She's coming in a few minutes, but she'd never dance."

"I'm surprised nobody has asked you," Winter continued.

"Why?"

"Because I'd love to dance with you."

Penny spun, eyes turning unbelievably excited.

"Really?!"

Winter nodded, smiling gently.

Penny grinned, grabbing onto her hands and pulling her toward the dance floor.

When they got there, she paused, looking suddenly panicked.

"Is everything alright, Penny?"

"I've never danced."

"I'm sure you know how," Winter said, lifting Penny's hand and setting one on her shoulder and holding the other in her own.

Penny watched the movement with an enthusiastic sense of wonder, taking in everything about the dance with wide eyes.

Winter smiled fondly, watching the other girl as she let herself be showed the simplistic steps.

This lasted for all of two minutes before Penny saw someone else being twirled. She turned to Winter with intrigue, and she tried not to sigh.

If Penny fell on her...that would certainly be inconvenient considering how much she weighed.

Despite herself, Winter showed the other girl how to do the spin, and was surprised at how elegantly Penny was able to follow the movement.

When they'd finished, Winter decided to surprise her with another move, dipping Penny gently and almost letting her touch the ground.

Penny let out an excited sound, holding onto Winter's shoulders as she was set back on her feet.

"I greatly enjoy dancing, Friend Winter!" she said.

Winter smiled just slightly.

"I appreciated dancing with you as well. We'll have to do it again sometime."

Penny nodded enthusiastically and was about to ask her to dance again right then, but was distracted as another woman walked into the ballroom.

"I'll find you later, Friend Winter!" Penny said before racing to Ciel's side.

Her friend smiled, and Penny grinned.

"I'm still surprised you wanted to come!"

"Me too," Ciel muttered to herself.

Penny led her to the snack table a minute later, and Ciel was thankful to be distracted from mischievous smirks and mismatched eyes.

-

"Oh my dust," Ruby muttered.

The rest of her team glanced at her.

"What?" Weiss asked.

"This is our first date!" she hissed.

There was a moment of silence.

"Never thought I'd be tagging along on my sister's first date," Yang said, grinning.

Ruby rolled her eyes, flushing slightly.

"This is your first date?" Blake asked.

"So what if it is her first date?" Weiss asked defensively.

"Oh dust, it's your first date too, isn't it!" Yang said enthusiastically.

Weiss blushed.

"When you're the heiress to a company as big as mine... you don't get many opportunities for dating," she said awkwardly.

Yang was grinning.

"That's so cute! Blake, you just took two girls out on their first date at the same time! You're such a player!" Yang cried.

"What can I say? Nobody can tie me down," Blake said in a monotone voice.

Her girlfriends burst out laughing, and Blake grinned.

“Well, I don’t know about you three, but I’m having,” Yang paused dramatically, smirking, “a ball!”

Her three teammates groaned.

“That was weak,” Ruby said.

Yang muttered something about the three of them not having a sense of humor.

-

Ciel was starting to regret coming, and the large crowd was making her anxious.

“Penny, I’m going to step outside for a minute, get some fresh air.”

Penny turned her gaze from where they had been focused on Winter.

“Are you alright, Friend Ciel?”

“I’m fine. I’ll be back shortly.”

Penny nodded and Ciel stepped outside into a small alcove outside the cafeteria turned ballroom.

The sound of heels on the railing caused Ciel to jump, and she spun.

Neo grinned, dropping down beside her. She’d been waiting a little over half an hour for Ciel to appear.

‘Hello, Gorgeous.’

“Neo! You scared me.”

‘’I’m terribly sorry. That was certainly not my intention.’

Ciel scoffed.

“Then what was your intention?”

‘To get another look at you, Gorgeous.’

Ciel felt her face flush.

Neo paused in her slow advance on Ciel, putting a hand to her lip for a minute.

Music gently floating outside. It was quiet, but that didn’t seem to matter to the pair, as both of them were too.

Neo held out a hand, grinning.

‘May I have this dance?’

Ciel knew this was stupid. Why would she dance with a criminal? Neo still couldn’t be trusted, even if she’d been, in her own opinion, charming.

Despite herself, Ciel allowed her hand to fall into Neo’s own, and the criminal grinned.

Ciel was pulled forward and Neo’s other arm wrapped around her waist.

Ciel felt her breath hitch as her new dancing partner gently dragged her closer.

“Is this why you wanted me to come to the dance?” Ciel asked quietly.

Neo have her a look that seemed to say ‘I’m mute, did you forget that, Gorgeous?’

Ciel smiled slightly as the criminal nodded her head.

“Well then, I suppose it wasn’t a horrible idea to come after all.”

Once again, Ciel could read Neo’s expression. ‘You’re darn right it was a good idea. I’m simply wonderful, Gorgeous.’

She laughed quietly, and Neo watched her with a slightly fond smile.

The dance was over quickly, more so than Ciel would have liked, and the two pulled apart.

She might have asked for another song, but she didn’t like Neo’s enforced silence when they were dancing. Well, she was always silent, but Ciel meant her inability to communicate.

Neo was a funny one, she’d give her that.

For a moment, Neo seemed almost hesitant. Awkward, even.

‘Do you want me to go?’

“What? No,” Ciel said.

Neo grinned, her uncomfortableness gone.

‘Of course you don’t. I’m the best.’

Ciel snickered, grinning at her.

‘See now, that’s the smile I like to see.’

Ciel felt her face flush, and Neo snickered.

“Why do you keep coming to see me?”

‘I really thought you’d figure it out by now.’

“Figure what out?”

Neo leaned forward, closing the small space in between them.

Her lips crashed against Ciel’s, shaking her world at its core.

Ciel knew she shouldn’t. She knew that she’d just brought this criminal in and watched her escape.

But... she found her hands slowly setting themselves on Neopolitan’s arms.

Neo’s hands were clutching her face as she deepened the kiss.

Ciel felt something, other than a tongue that is, slip inside her mouth just as Neo pulled away.

Neo grinned at Ciel’s slightly dazed expression.

Ciel reached her hand into her mouth, pulling out a piece of paper, which was now very wet from saliva.

Neo’s familiar handwriting was scrawled on it.

I’ve been flirting with you, Gorgeous.

Ciel looked up, and Neo immediately started signing.

‘And I‘d say I’m very taken with you. Or, as normal people would say, I’ve got some strong feelings for you.’

Ciel felt a small grin forming on her face.

“Really?”

‘I haven’t been very subtle, Gorgeous.’

Ciel supposed she hadn’t.

‘Well, your move.’

Ciel took a moment to think. Her brain said... this was quite possibly the stupidest thing anyone in history anyone had EVER done.

But she was tired of thinking and being logical. That’s what she’d been doing her whole life.

Ciel reached out and grabbed Neo by the collar of her shirt. Ciel tugged her forward, connecting their lips once again.

Neo smirked into the kiss, and Ciel tried not to roll her eyes, because of course Neo was smug.

When the two pulled apart, Ciel set her forehead against Neo’s own.

“I think that, despite my better judgment, I might have gained some semblance of feelings for you.”

‘I’m sure you did. I’m quite charming, after all.’

“A feeling other than frustration, that is.”

Neo laughed silently before she pulled back.

‘Gotta go, Gorgeous.’

She jumped onto the railing and dropped off in the dramatic way she always did.

Ciel watched her go, a faint smile on her face.

A second later, the door behind her opened.

“Friend Ciel! I was worried about you,” Penny said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Ciel attempted to calm her racing heartbeat.

“I’m... fine, Penny. I assumed you and Winter were busy, so I thought I’d give you two some time.”

Penny smiled at her and led her into the ballroom.

“Nonsense! The more friends the merrier!”

-

Ruby giggled as Blake pulled her out into an alcove. Neither of them noticed the small form that disappeared over the railing.

Yang and Weiss were a few steps ahead of them, Yang pulling Weiss to the side of the building.

The heiress was about to ask what they were doing, but Yang silenced her by lifting her into the air, propping her against the side of the wall and kissing her.

Weiss’ eyes widened in shock for a moment before they fluttered shut.

Ruby turned away from Weiss and Yang awkwardly.

Blake grinned down at her, and Ruby instinctively looped her arms around her shoulders, leaning up into the kiss as Blake held her.

-

Pyrrha led Ilia out into the alcove, the faunus smiling broadly.

“Pyrrha, we might get caught,” she whispered.

Just as she spoke, they both caught sight of two couples.

Well, not really COUPLES, more like a quartet. Maybe a team.

Ilia froze and tugged Pyrrha back.

Pyrrha laughed quietly.

“I guess this spot’s taken.”

-

Ciel followed Penny into the ballroom, her head spinning.

The high of kissing Neo had worn off and now she was left with the consequences of her actions.

She’d just made out with one of the most wanted criminals in all of Atlas.

And she couldn’t find it in herself to be upset about it.

Penny smiled at her, looking rather confused.

“Is there something wrong, Ciel?”

“No, I...I’d like to talk to you later, though.”

“Of course! Anytime, Friend Ciel! Although, Winter did ask for one more dance before the end of the ball, so-”

“Go, I’d rather talk with you alone anyways.”

Penny smiled and nodded before hurrying off to the awaiting Winter.


	16. Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is really Neo and Ciel heavy (and some of the other side ships), I swear it won't be like that long. After this chapter, I'm shifting to plot heavy, really. Until I get to the SUPER fluff after the plot of the other volumes, fluff will now be few and far between... sorry!

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about, Friend Ciel?" Penny asked.

Ciel wasn't acting as Penny's data of her indicated that she should be.

She was pacing back and forth, her hands clenching and unclenching in nervousness.

"You know what a hypothetical is, right?"

Penny nodded.

"Right, of course you do. You've literally got the entire dictionary memorized, right?"

"In multiple languages!"

"That's what I thought."

"Why are you asking about hypotheticals?"

"Well, let's say that, hypothetically, I made a mistake... well, not necessarily a mistake, but...," she took a deep breath, "that's not the point. Let's say that I... had feelings for someone that I really shouldn't."

"Feelings? What sort of feelings?"

Ciel stopped herself from sighing. The reason she had decided to speak with Penny was the same reason that this was going to be frustrating.

"Romantic ones."

"Oh!" Penny said, eyes widening slightly, "I don't understand the problem. Why would you, hypothetically, have personal feelings for someone you shouldn't?"

Ciel sighed.

"Sometimes you can't control it, Penny."

"I mean, why would this person be someone you shouldn't have personal feelings for? What's wrong with having romantic personal feelings for someone?"

"Well, nothing, usually. But... hypothetically, this person is... not the sort of person I should be associating with."

"How so?"

"Let's just leave it at that."

"I don't think there's sufficient information in this hypothetical situation to give you good advice for you should you encounter this situation in real life," Penny said, frowning slightly in confusion.

"Let's say that they're... a criminal," Ciel internally cursed herself, but she was sure that Penny wouldn't understand the subtle social interaction cues that most people would. Ciel hoped this would help keep the other girl from understanding what she really meant.

"What's your question then, Ciel?" Penny asked.

"What should I do?"

"About?"

"My feelings, Penny!"

Penny frowned, deep in thought.

"If I had romantic personal feelings for a person, I would tell them."

"But what if they're a criminal?"

"Are they a bad person?"

Ciel paused in thought.

"If they were a bad person, then I would recommend that you isolate yourself from them and reevaluate your thoughts and personal feelings toward them, because you're a good person, Ciel, and you deserve better. But if they aren't, then tell them and see if they feel the same."

Ciel stared at her partner, eyes wide.

Penny smiled at her.

"Did I help you with your extremely specific hypothetical situation, Friend Ciel?"

"Yes, Penny, you did."

"Why did you want to ask me about this?" Penny asked innocently.

"I... like to be prepared."

"Do you expect to find yourself in this sort of situation in the foreseeable future?"

"I... I don't know, Penny."

"Then I wish you luck with your future romantic endeavors."

"Thanks, I might need it."

"I hope that you won't."

Ciel smiled at her partner as she exited the dorm room.

Once she was gone, Ciel sighed, running a hand through her hair.

Penny had made it all seem so simple.

Was she evil or not?

It sounded like such an easy question to answer, but was it?

Sure, Neo was a criminal, but she had never truly hurt anyone (further than knocking them out, and every hunter or huntress in training had done that).

Within a few minutes, she had her answer.

Ciel opened the balcony door and stepped outside.

"Well, it seems like you're here every time I step outside, let's see if it works this time," she said under her breath.

She stood outside for a long minute before she sighed, shaking her head. She felt stupid for having walked outside randomly and expected to just find Neo standing out there waiting for her. Neo had other things to do than watch for her to step outside-

The sound of shoes on railing made Ciel spin around, as she had been walking back to her dorm room.

 _'Hello, Gorgeous,'_ Neo signed as she dropped back onto the floor in front of her.

Ciel raised an eyebrow at the criminal.

"So you really were just out here waiting for me to maybe step outside?"

_'No maybe to it, Gorgeous. I know you well enough to know that you'd have a moral crisis about what to do. So, what did you decide?'_

Ciel looked at Neo, who was smirking at her almost lazily. But there was a slight light of nervousness to her eyes.

"I have a question for you first."

_'Anything for you.'_

Ciel blushed and forced herself to speak.

"Why did you decide to reach out to me. You escaped, but you came back. Why?"

Neo rubbed the back of her neck, her face looking a bit awkward now.

_'Well, I... I thought you were cute, alright? I thought you were sweet and kind, and I hadn't met anyone like you before. I wanted to... well, you know what I wanted now.'_

Ciel smiled slightly at her now.

"I decided."

_'Do enlighten me, Gorgeous.'_

Ciel moved closer to Neo, putting her hands on the criminal's face and pulling her forward, connecting their lips once more.

Neo seemed shocked, because she had frozen.

Ciel felt smug at making the normally quick witted girl pause.

After a moment, Neo smiled into the kiss (not smirked, not grinned, but smiled, something that Ciel had hardly seen her do), wrapping her arms around Ciel's waist.

When they pulled apart, Ciel smirked up at her.

"Does that tell you what you need to know?" she asked.

Neo unwrapped her arms from around Ciel to respond.

_'Don't know if you've noticed, Gorgeous, but I'm highly uneducated. You'll need to spell it out for me.'_

Ciel chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"I decided that you're a good person. Well, good enough, at least."

_'I'm touched. Seriously, that might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.'_

Ciel smiled and leaned closer for a kiss, but the sound of her door opening behind her made both of them jump.

Neo threw herself to the side and Ciel hurried inside.

She was met by Penny, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"You weren't talking about a hypothetical!" she said.

Ciel's eyes widened in worry.

"What? Of course I was!"

"No! That's what's been troubling you lately! Are you alright, Friend Ciel? Would you like to discuss this criminal you've gained personal feelings for?"

Ciel sighed.

"Penny, I-"

"It must be Neopolitan! But we haven't seen her since she escaped."

There was a beat of silence, and Ciel could almost see Neo laughing silently outside.

"You've seen her since she escaped."

Ciel stepped toward Penny, setting her hands on the other girl's shoulders.

"Did my advice at least help?"

Ciel nodded quickly.

"Yes, Penny, it did."

"What did you decide?"

Ciel was silent, and Penny quickly put the clues together.

"I sense a heat signature outside on your balcony. Is that Neopolitan?"

Ciel nodded, finding herself almost as silent as Neo.

A head poked into view, staring at the two of them.

Neo waved at Penny, and she sighed.

"Why didn't you just tell me this is what you meant, Friend Ciel?" Penny asked.

Ciel smiled at her apologetically.

Neo opened the balcony door and walked inside, her heels clicking on the floor as she neared them. Her grip tightened on her parasol as she looked at Penny.

Penny glanced around the room hurriedly, and Ciel felt herself tense.

"I am happy for you, Friend Ciel, but you two must be careful, because there are many cameras in this school."

Neo grinned.

_'I know, I've been careful.'_

Penny smiled slightly.

"Good. I wish you two the best of luck, and your secret is safe with me. But, Neopolitan, if you hurt her, I will have no choice but to hunt you down and throw you in jail, where I assure you you will never escape."

_'Thanks for the head up, but don't worry. I don't plan to hurt her.'_

Penny smiled and nodded at the two before she turned to the door.

"I'll leave you two to do... whatever it was you were doing."

She opened the door slightly, careful not to allow Neo to be seen from outside, and slipped outside, giving the two a happy wave before disappearing.

_'She's nice. We should get brunch sometime.'_

Ciel sighed, wondering why she had to pick this idiot of all people.

-

Ruby laughed at Weiss' bright red face. The four of them had been caught by a teacher, Professor Port specifically, about five minutes ago, and Weiss had still yet to stop blushing.

The four had just returned to their dorm, and an awkward silence sat in the air.

"I had a great time," Ruby said quietly.

"It would have been the perfect first date, I guess," Yang said, smirking.

Ruby glared at her.

"Wait! How am I supposed to give the big sister talk?!"

"What big sister talk?" Blake asked, frowning.

"The one where I threaten to kill you if you hurt my sister! How do I threaten the people I'm dating?!"

Weiss burst out laughing, and her girlfriends glanced at her.

"I was always worried about the two of you dating us! I mean, look at my sister and I! We can barely speak to each other without awkward silences or disappointing looks, and you two are trying to share the same two girlfriends! But the thing you're worried about...," she paused to laugh again, "being able to threaten Ruby's girlfriends!"

Ruby, Yang, and Weiss seemed worried about their girlfriend. They hadn't seen her laugh so hysterically before.

"Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby asked nervously.

Weiss shook her head, calming down.

For the first time, Weiss realized that this might just work long term. Ruby and Yang were, in her professional opinion, practically perfect sisters. The strain on their relationship had always been her biggest worry about the four of them dating. Her laughter hadn't just been about the funny comment, but in relief.

-

Coco and Velvet had ditched their teammates and gone back to their dorms, the two of them falling against the faunus' bed.

The two were laughing after having made their escape.

Coco moved closer to Velvet, wrapping her arm around over shoulders.

"I'm glad you finally made a move, Velvs."

"If you were waiting for so long, why didn't you?" she asked.

Coco glanced down at her, awkward.

"Well..."

"Coco Adel, were you nervous?!"

"Of course I was nervous! I couldn't get rejected and ruin my image."

Velvet stared at her, unamused.

Coco sighed.

"I was worried you wouldn't like me, alright?"

"What? Why?"

"Velvet, you know that you're, like, the sweetest and most innocent person in the world, right? You're way out of my league."

Velvet laughed, staring at her incredulously.

"Well, why didn't you say anything earlier, Velvs?" Coco asked, sounding almost defensive.

"Coco, do you know why we went to thank Blake and Weiss for helping us get together?"

"Not exactly."

"Because they're dating. If Weiss, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, could like a faunus, then why couldn't you?"

Coco stared at her.

"That's the stupidest reason not to tell me. Me rejecting you? Sure, I could understand that fear. But because you're a faunus?!"

Velvet's eyes glazed over, and Coco suddenly got nervous that she had said the wrong thing.

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Vel-"

She was cut off as Velvet pressed her lips against her own.

Coco grinned, not caring to consider what had made her girlfriend so happy.

-

Weiss was in the bathroom, having drawn the short straw to shower last, and Blake was already gently sleeping, her head set on Ruby's shoulder as they laid in bed.

Yang had her arm looped around her sister, her hand landing on Blake's head. Ruby was gently stroking Blake's ears as they lay there.

Out of the blue, Ruby turned to face her sister.

"Yang?"

The blond forced her eyes back open, glancing down at her.

"Hmm? Yeah, Rubes?"

"Do you think our parents were married."

"I always thought so."

"But were all three of them married, I mean?"

"I don't know, Rubes. Why?"

Ruby blushed slightly.

"No reason."

There was a beat of silence before Yang smiled, her face a light shade of pink.

"I sure hope so."

Ruby glanced down at Blake, who twitched slightly in her sleep, curling up closer to Ruby.

Maybe it was legal somewhere.

They'd need to ask their father, or maybe Uncle Qrow.


	17. Ace-Ops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't explain all the stuff the show does, because you guys already know most of it. I gloss over it so I can get through the chapter faster for you guys and post it quickly! When I get to stuff that is NOT canon, I make sure to give a proper explanation (this will be happening a LOT more after I finish the volume seven stuff here and have to backtrack for some stuff, such as volumes 4-6 info).

Ghira tightened his grip on his wife's hand, the two of them making their way through the crowded streets of Menagerie.

Their daughter had revealed the truth about the the White Fang in the rest of the world and now, after having seen them first hand, he was worried about the local branch that he himself had started.

Kali squeezed his hand back to calm him, and he smiled at her thinly.

The two of them were determined to investigate the inner workings of the White Fang here in Menagerie and make sure that they weren't the same as Adam's branch.

-

Ruby groaned as she dragged herself out of bed. It was difficult to do considering Blake's arms were wrapped around her stomach and her head buried in her shoulder.

But there was banging on the door, obviously courtesy of Nora, that caused her to roll out of the bed finally.

Weiss huffed and held onto Blake.

"Tell Nora to go away," she mumbled, burying her face in Blake's hair.

"Stop being adorable and gay! Get out here!" Nora cried through the door.

"I'm getting up, but only to punch her for that comment," Yang muttered, making Ruby laugh.

Blake glanced down at Weiss, smirking as she tightened her grip around her.

The faunus concentrated for a moment before using her semblance to leave a copy of herself as she left the bed.

Weiss let out a shocked cry as the copy disappeared and Blake slipped into the restroom to change.

"That was a low blow, Blake!" Weiss cried.

The faunus snickered, her gaze falling on the mirror.

She reached a hand up and gently touched her hair, running a hand through it.

After a moment, she raised her newly mastered weapon, which Penny's father had upgraded, and raised it to her hair. After a moment of thinking, she slashed with the weapon and watched her hair fall to the sink in front of her.

She glanced up and looked at herself in the mirror, a small smile coming onto her lips.

When Blake stepped out of the bathroom, three pairs of eyes fell on her.

Blake reached a hand up self consciously touch it, smiling just slightly.

"Do you not like it?"

"What?! No! It's... nice," Yang said, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck awkwardly.

Ruby nodded excitedly, racing up to Blake.

"We were just a bit surprised! But Yang's right! It's... really pretty!"

Weiss nodded mutely, staring up at her with a light blush on her face.

Blake laughed quietly, seeing the the heiress' anger from earlier disappear suddenly.

"Hurry up!" Nora screamed.

That shocked her teammates into motion suddenly, sending them racing across the room to get dressed and ready their weapons.

When the four of them stepped outside, Nora took one look at Blake and sighed.

"Blake," she whined, "now they're going to be distracted all day!"

Blake tried not to laugh as her teammates seemed a bit awkward at the words.

"Now come on! We get to meet the Ace-Ops today!" Nora said, almost clapping her hands in enthusiasm.

-

Clover looked down at the group of students they were supposed to be training, and he found himself a bit excited. He'd always wanted his team to get a group of students to train, to pass on their knowledge, but a few of his teammates seemed unexcited.

A few of their students seemed rather distracted, however, by a surprising source.

The cat faunus, he thought her name was Blake, glanced up from her scroll and found three pairs of eyes focused on her.

Weiss, Clover knew the heiress' name for sure, turned a light shade of red, eyes shooting away from the faunus. Their team leader grinned and waved at Blake, pointing at the hair and then giving her a thumbs up. The blond (Tang? Was that her name? Clover wasn't certain) quickly tried to cover up her awkward staring.

Clover sighed and shook his head, calling for the students to round up around him and his own team.

He split them up into different teams and prepped them for entry into the old Schnee Dust Mine to clear it for the building of the Amity Tower.

He picked a student at random to join him, and sighed internally, knowing he'd have to protect the young faunus adamantly. Looking back, he probably should have picked the redhead. She was famous for her fighting skills, right? He wasn't sure, but that sounded right.

Either way, he'd already made his pick and had to stick to it.

-

Team RWBY was led by Marrow and Harriet into the mines, Weiss feeling somewhat awkward beside the wolf faunus and falling behind to speak quietly with Blake.

"This is the mine that exploded a few years back, isn't it?" Blake asked.

Weiss grimaced.

"Yes, it is. I'm sorry that I was complacent for so long," she whispered.

Blake smiled down at her fondly, but her eyes were a bit distant.

"I hope Ilia's alright," she muttered.

"Is this where her parents...," Weiss trailed off.

"Yes, it is."

-

Ilia moved through the mine, her heart hammering in her chest at the familiar, if desolate, mine.

"You doing alright, kid?" Clover asked, eyes searching through the mine avidly.

"I'm... fine."

"Don't sound like you are."

"I... was raised around here and my parents..."

Clover made a sound of understanding.

"You want to go back?"

"No, I'll be fine," Ilia said, but she looked a bit uncertain as she looked at her surroundings.

"Maybe I shouldn't have separated you from your team," he muttered.

Ilia gave him a small, somewhat hesitant, smile.

"I'll be fine."

-

"Hey! We need someone small to slip through here. Preferably someone with good night-vision?" Marrow said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb.

Blake jumped slightly, taking her attention from Weiss for a moment.

"Oh! Right," she said.

Weiss glanced at her, looking slightly worried as her gaze fell on Blake.

Her eyes asked if she was alright.

Blake nodded, giving her a small smile before she walked into the small hole, looking around for any sign of the large Geist they were searching for.

A moment after she entered the room, the Grimm appeared in front of her.

She let out a cry of shock, and heard her teammates and girlfriends call out for her.

"Stay still!" Yang cried, clicking her gauntlet into place and pulling it back and swinging her fist forward, eyes flashing red.

The large wall separating Blake from her teammates and the Ace-Ops with them.

Yang appeared and hurried forward toward Blake, their teammates following after her.

The large Grimm raced off and left them to face a group of Centinels.

-

Ilia frowned, listening closely to the sound of shifting rocks a little ways under their feet.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped when a large Grimm burst out of the ground.

Clover raised his weapon immediately, oddly it was a fishing rod of all things, and threw it at the Grimm.

Ilia froze for a moment, looking at it in shock, before she drew her own weapon, Lightning Lash, and prepared to attack. She raced forward, striking at the Grimm with the sword.

Before she could get a second hit on the creature, it raced off, leaving her and Clover behind.

She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Lucky shot," she said.

He grinned at her and explained his semblance a moment later before the two take off deeper into the mines to chase the Grimm.

-

"You have a speed semblance too?" Ruby asked excitedly, walking beside Harriet with eyes aglow with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, but from your reaction time I'd say I'm just a bit faster," Harriet said, smirking.

Marrow rolled his eyes at his teammate.

"Always have to be competitive, don't you, Har?"

Before she could respond, the sound of heavy footsteps caused them to pause, looking forward at where the sound emanated from.

A moment later, the Geist burst into the chamber in front of them.

After a moment, the founding members of team JNIPR and two Ace-Ops (Elm and Vine) joined them in the large cave. Their team leader raced in, Ilia at his heels, just a second afterward.

"It's injected dust into its body!" Weiss cried suddenly, staring at the Grimm in shock.

The Ace-Ops use the information in their fight, working with shockingly good teamwork as they fought against it.

At the end of the fight, Ruby saw a piece of dust falling toward the ground. From her constant warnings, courtesy of Weiss, she knew that it would explode upon impact.

"Har!" Clover cried.

Harriet and Ruby raced toward the dust, the latter smirking to herself. She'd show that Ace-Op who had the faster semblance!

She slammed against the dust, cradling it with her body slightly before she caught it.

She fell to the ground, laughing quietly to herself.

"I thought you said that your semblance was like mine," Harriet said, holding out her hand for Ruby to grab.

"It is?" Ruby said hesitantly, sounding almost as if it was a question rather than a statement.

"I've seen other speed semblances, and yours is definitely different," Harriet said.

Ruby frowned as she was pulled to her feet, returning to her team with the Ace-Op's words circling through her mind.

Pyrrha approached Ilia, seeing a distant look on her girlfriend's face.

"Ilia, are you alright?" Pyrrha asked.

The faunus jumped at Pyrrha's voice, glancing up at her.

Her eyes clouded with tears, the past playing itself in front of her eyes.

The screams of familiar voices, the cloud that hung in the air from the explosions, obscuring the bodies, both dead and alive.

Pyrrha didn't question her and opened her arms.

Ilia practically fell into them, burying her face in Pyrrha's chest.

Pyrrha ran her hand comfortingly down her back.

"Shh... it'll be alright."

Blake watched the two for a long minute, a small smile on her face.

Ilia had finally found someone who could be there for her, and could be there for them.

After a minute, Clover gathered everyone together, looking at Ilia with a sad look in his eyes for a moment as the girl composed herself, and told them they were headed back, now that they'd cleared the mine for Amity Tower building.


	18. Former Heiress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that quotes are definitely not canon ones, I'm too lazy to rewatch all this stuff.

Ruby grinned as she walked out of the aircraft, jumping in enthusiasm.

Blake put a calming hand on her shoulder while Weiss rolled her eyes.

"You guys work so well together!" Ruby said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I hope my friends and I could be such a good team some day!" Nora said in excitement.

"Friends?" Harriet scoffed, rolling her eyes, "We're not friends."

Ruby's enthusiasm instantly died as she looked at her teammates.

Weiss gave Ruby a slightly comforting gaze.

Ruby smiled back at her, and Marrow scoffed.

"Why do we have to watch children," he groaned.

"You're one to talk," Elm responded, rolling his eyes almost sufferingly.

"We aren't sure," Harriet said, watching the heiress with narrowed eyes.

A minute later, General Ironwood strode toward them in the landing strips.

"General?" Clover asked in confusion.

"It happened again."

"What happened again?" Vine asked immediately, eyes turning almost worried.

"Another critic of mine has been killed."

"Who's trying to frame you?" Weiss asked, frowning.

"We still don't know," the general said, clenching his jaw and shaking his head, running a hand down his beard.

Clover opened his mouth to ask a question, but froze at the sound of another aircraft landing. They hadn't known one was supposed to be landing.

Jacques Schnee stepped out of the aircraft and his eyes shot over the group, landing on the General almost instantly.

"You sent your team into my mines without my authorization!" Jacques sneered, glaring at him.

"It's well within my rights to deconstruct that dangerous mine."

"You had _no_ right, General, and I will be taking this to court-"

"You had no right to keep that mine open when you _knew_ it was dangerous," Weiss interrupted, glaring at him vehemently.

Jacques opened his mouth to respond, but he froze, eyes landing on Weiss in front of him in shock, having barely recognized her voice.

"Weiss?"

The heiress froze, staring at him.

"I've been worried about you," he said, instantly changing tactics.

Weiss crumbled slightly, her posture slumping just noticeably.

Yang cleared her throat subtly, and the heiress glanced at her, finding comfort in those lilac eyes of hers.

She turned back to her father, her posture once more straightening as she looked at her father, a dark glare on her face.

"Your mother has been too. You her... condition has been worsening since you left, and it got far worse when Beacon fell. You should return home, Weiss, and return to your family."

Weiss felt her heart sink when her mother was mentioned by him.

A form stepped forward, slipping their hand into their own.

Weiss looked to the side, finding Blake already staring down at her with loving eyes.

Blake's ears went down, clearly starting to regret her decision, and Weiss squeezed her hand in her own.

"I am with my family," Weiss said, staring at Jacques, making sure to look him in the eyes, "My team is my family now."

While she'd spoken, Ruby and Yang had stepped forward to stand at Weiss and Blake's side, respectively.

Jacques' gaze flickered over the four of them, eyes narrowing darkly.

"This is who you choose to associate yourself with?"

Weiss held Blake's hand tighter, pulling it closer to her chest. Ruby reached out and set her palm against Weiss' arm gently. She didn't need to nod for her message to be sent.

"Then it seems I'll have to keep the company in the family," he said.

Weiss flinched slightly, but didn't let it faze her.

"Seems like," she responded, keeping her tone level.

Jacques gave the group one last glare and turned to go, but a voice caught him a moment before he could.

"What you've done to the faunus has been atrocious."

Pyrrha stepped forward, holding Ilia's hand in her own.

"Your crimes won't be forgotten."

Blake glanced at her fellow faunus, eyes concerned.

Ilia was holding onto Pyrrha's hand desperately, as if she was holding onto her for dear life.

Jacques' gaze shot from the two girls before he turned his nose up at them.

"I will not sit here and listen to these... students! General, I recommend that you keep a better eye on these students, lest you want to meet me in court," he said before walking back to his aircraft quickly.

Pyrrha took a step to follow him, but Ilia stopped her.

Pyrrha glanced back at her, raising an eyebrow.

"He's not worth it, Pyrrha," she whispered.

The redhead took a second to think before she nodded, eyes turning comforting as she set her other hand on Ilia's back, pulling her in for a hug.

Blake turned to Weiss, finding the heiress watching her father retreat with almost regret. But when her gaze shifts back to her teammates and girlfriends, she loses that sense of regret, instead replacing it with fondness.

"Are you going to be alright?" Blake whispered.

Weiss nodded, leaning forward to hug the other girl, throwing her arms around Blake's shoulders.

A moment later, Ruby threw herself into the hug, setting her head onto Weiss' shoulder with a broad grin.

Yang joined in, hooking her arms around the three of them, lifting her girlfriends (and sister) into the air.

Weiss shrieked in surprise while Blake and Ruby laughed.

"It seems I always have to interrupt these touching moment," Winter's voice broke the mood, making Weiss blush.

But, for once, the former heiress didn't withdraw herself from the other girls, deciding to suffer the embarrassment as she turned to face her sister.

"I'd hate for you two teams to be forgetting something important."

An awkward silence reined as they all looked at one another.

"Your classes. Don't forget your classes."

The two teams gaped in shock before taking off, almost falling over in their haste.

When they were gone, Winter turned her attention to the General, who stared at her.

"Very clever, Ms. Schnee, but I must say that I'm surprised they fell for it."

The hint of a smile graced her lips.

"Are you sure that you're ready?" he asked.

Winter's thoughts strayed to the Maiden, and she forced herself to nod.

"Of course, General."


	19. Passage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two things!
> 
> 1) I used some actual quotes this time! Be proud of me, please!
> 
> 2) I’ve got some SERIOUS plans for this story, through canon (yes, I have to double back some for stuff I purposefully skipped, so some changes might not be so permanent *holds knife to Pyrrha’s throat*) and I’m going WAY past canon. So don’t be worried about this ending any time soon!

It was an early morning, and team RWBY was still asleep. It was a very peaceful moment for the four girls.

Blake had both of her arms looped around Yang's waist, head buried in her hair, while the blond had Weiss curled up into a ball in front of her, her face set on Yang's shoulder, putting her head beside Blake's own. Ruby was on the other side of Blake, laying on her back with on arm underneath the faunus.

Their comfortable appearance didn't stop Penny from awakening them, quite suddenly.

"Good morning, team RWBY!" she cried.

"Ugh, Penny, what time is it?" Yang groaned, pulling Weiss closer.

"Time to help the Ace-Ops!"

Ruby scrambled to her feet excitedly, yanking her arm out from under Blake, pushing the faunus toward the edge of the bed. She was fine, as she was near the corner, but Weiss was not so lucky, and she was shoved toward the edge of the bed.

Only Yang's arm around her was able to keep her from falling out entirely, though she was stuck at the edge of the bed.

"Ruby!" Weiss snapped, scrambling to her feet before Yang could drop her.

"C'mon, guys! Let's go!" Ruby said in excitement.

Blake sighed, removing her arms from around Yang's waist and stretching before starting to get ready with the rest of her teammates and girlfriends.

-

Jaune settled down, smiling at his coffee as he prepared to take a sip. The sight of a wagging tail gave him hesitation, and he glanced at Marrow, who was seated beside him. His gaze was focused on Jaune's drink, and the knight sighed, frowning as he handed it to Marrow.

"Sure, take it."

Marrow grinned and excitedly took the drink, wagging his tail as he did so.

"Eyes up, Student. Time to get used to the new normal in Atlas," Clover said.

Jaune nodded as he listened to Clover speak.

"Your top priority is Amity Tower. That means protecting supply runs from Grimm and bandits. And protecting the site itself, not Mantle," Clover said, glancing at the students, "Diverting all construction resources to Amity Tower means there are going to be gaps in Mantle's defenses against Grimm. They'll need help on the perimeter. But there's still plenty to do in Mantle itself. I think you'll find everyone appreciates having a Huntsman in training around. You're of course free to enjoy your time off as you see fit. Whatever helps you take the edge off. The Huntsmen around you can be an invaluable resource. If you're willing to pay attention."

-

Ruby and Weiss dropped from the sky, falling toward the ground from an aircraft that had, once again, carried them to the Schnee Dust Company from the day before.

Ruby grabbed onto Weiss in mid-air, and the former heiress glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. Ruby just grinned, firing Crescent Rose to keep them from falling straight to the ground.

"I could do it myself, Ruby."

"Yeah, but this is more fun!"

Weiss smiled just barely, eyes turning fond as she watched her girlfriend.

They landed together and Ruby let her go, allowing the former heiress to raise her rapier and prepare for battle.

Ruby glanced over her shoulder in the direction she knew Blake and Yang had gone.

"We have to go fast, Clover needs us soon," Ruby said.

Weiss raised an eyebrow, glancing at her.

"Since when are you the one reminding me what to do?"

-

Marrow turned to look at the two girls, who were standing side by side, as always.

"Hey, have you two ever thought about branching out a little? You always pair up, but I don't know if your styles really-"

Yang turned toward the nearest Grimm, her eyes turning red instantly as she moved forward.

Blake fell back, watching her intently for the plan.

Yang reared her arm back, launching it at the Grimm and striking it in the face. She slid across the ground on her knees, punching the underside of the creature and setting a multitude of explosions underneath it. She stood once she'd gotten out from under it, catching Blake's weapon that she had tossed at her. Yang used the weapon to stab the Grimm in the chest, using her gauntlet to set the Grimm flying backwards. Blake pulled on the ribbon, sending the Grimm flying towards the others of its kind. Just as it landed, the bombs went off, killing all three.

Yang and Blake turned to face Marrow, staring at the Ace-Op member.

"-really, really good stuff! Yeah, keep it up!"

Blake and Yang exchanged a look, both of them smirking as they turned to face the next Grimm.

-

Jaune tries to stop the mothers from giving him casseroles and longing looks, but it didn't work well.

"It's the hair, I'm telling you," Nora said to Ren as she watched the new crossing guard.

-

The week went by far too quickly, and Ruby found herself struggling to keep up with what was happening.

Training with the Ace-Ops was constant, and teams RWBY and JNIPR were constantly being sent out for jobs.

Weiss and Winter were training as well, and now the former heiress could summon the arm of a knight whenever she wanted. This had made her three girlfriends extremely proud of her, voicing it several times (which only made her embarrassed).

-

Ilia stopped, putting Lightning Lash back in its sheath as she panted heavily. She had just finished a sparring match against team FNKI with her own team. One of the girls on the team had mistaken Nora and Ren for a couple, which now led to the two of them having an awkward conversation with the other team. Ilia knew that her new teammates would be preoccupied for several minutes. She wished the two would just get over whatever was stopping them and just kiss.

She turned around, intending to find Pyrrha, but felt a hand on her shoulder, halting her.

Ilia turned and was met with Clover, who was smiling down at her.

The two of them had been spending an oddly large amount of time together, as the leader of the Ace-Ops kept picking her to go on missions with him.

"Wanna go on a mission with me, Kid?"

Ilia frowned before nodding.

"Yeah, sure."

"Great!"

Clover moved his hand and set it gently on her right shoulder, glancing down at Ilia almost questioningly.

She was staring at his hand with a confused expression.

Ilia didn't say anything though, and he shepherded her out with a small smile.

Just as they were about to leave the training room when Pyrrha jogged up, watching the two of them with narrowed eyes.

"Mr. Ebi, may I speak to you for a minute?" Pyrrha asked.

Clover stopped, moving back from Ilia.

"Of course, Ms. Nikos. I'll be back in a minute, Ilia."

Ilia nodded, looking at her girlfriend in confusion.

"What's up?" Clover asked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall, looking at Pyrrha with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you trying to do?" Pyrrha asked. Her voice was as kind as always, but there was a slightly dangerous glint to her eyes as she looked at him.

Clover frowned.

"Take a student on a mission?"

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I'm talking about."

Clover sighed, rubbing a hand over his face in frustration.

"Look, kid, I know she's had a tough life. I'm just trying to be there for her."

Pyrrha smiled at him, nodding.

"Thank you."

Clover shrugged.

"Don't mention it. She's a great kid."

Pyrrha watched him as he made his way back to Ilia, setting a hand on her shoulder and guiding her out. He grabbed another student or two, but made sure to focus on Ilia.

-

Penny and Ruby had been relegated to the back of the armored car, talking to each other while Ilia and Clover did the same in the front seat.

Ruby glanced at the front seat before rolling her eyes.

"Made any new friends lately, Penny?" she asked.

"Just one. General Ironwood said that, as the next defender of Mantle, I don't have time for friends."

"That can't be true, Penny. Who's the new friend?"

"My partner, Ciel! Well, maybe two friends considering-"

Penny cut off suddenly, eyes going wide as she did so.

"Considering?" Ruby asked, frowning in confusion.

"Nothing!" Penny said quickly.

Her partner, Ciel, hadn't been working with the Ace-Ops, as Ruby had noticed earlier.

And the other girl seemed jumpy as of late, too, seeming to spend more time in her room. Penny would join her every once in a while, as well. But Ruby had seen little of the girl in the past week.

Before Ruby could continue, she felt the car coming to a halt.

She frowned, pushing herself up onto her knees and looking out the front window. Penny followed her, head cocking to the side. Clover stepped outside, putting on his most amicable grin as he did so.

He leaned back into the car after a second.

“Stay here, Colors.”

Ilia raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but nodded anyways.

"Robyn! Well, if it isn't Mantle's home town hero. Is there a reason you're blocking an official military transport?"

"Clover, I'm so glad you're here. Maybe you can help me understand why this truck that's supposed to be taking construction materials to fix Mantle's outer wall, is on its way to the middle of nowhere? Are you lost?" the mysterious girl, Robyn, she supposed, responded.

Clover laughed good naturedly.

"It's pretty easy to get turned around out here in the tundra, everything looks the same. Thanks for checking up on us though. We'll be on our way now."

Ruby attempted to hear more, but she couldn’t from inside of the car.

The conversation continued for another minute before Penny grabbed onto Ruby’s hand and pulled her out of the car.

The woman, Robyn, turned to Ruby immediately.

“How about you, Pipsqueak? You want to tell me why Mantle’s being put at risk for Ironwood’s pet project?”

“We’re trying to help Mantle! We need-”

“That’s enough Robyn. As a potential Councilwoman, you should probably focus on the election instead of harassing students. Now, it’s time to let us pass.”

“I think you’ve misjudged the situation. One way or another, these supplies are going to get where they’re supposed to go - Mantle.”

“Then I suggest you do that through the proper legal channels as a Councilwoman. If you get elected.”

Robyn smiled.

“Now where’s the fun in that?”

“Robyn Hill. I would like to politely ask that you call off the Huntresses approaching the rear of the truck,” Penny said.

Robyn called them off, grinning.

“Let us through, please,” Penny said.

There was a tense moment before Robyn glanced at the woman beside her, nodding to her.

The Faunus took a second to consider before she followed through, waving a hand in the air.

The gate opened, and the three piled back into the truck.

“Everything okay?” Ilia asked, sounding almost timid.

“Nothing important. Just some boring politics, Colors.”

-

Ciel heard a knock on her window and she rolled her eyes.

She opened it, crossing her arms afterwards in an attempt to seem annoyed at the interruption.

Neo climbed in, flashing her a grin. As she got settled, sitting primly with her legs crossed on top of the desk, she crumpled and displaced several papers, which Ciel had to save from her carelessness.

“My grades have been slipping since I met you, and that can’t be a coincidence,” she said crossly.

Her grades had been fine, but she still enjoyed messing with Neo.

‘Oh please, Gorgeous, we both know you’re far too intelligent and dedicated to let a ruffian like myself mess with those grades of yours.’

Ciel smirked, though she tried not to.

“I really do have homework, Neo.”

Her girlfriend frowned, looking almost pouty.

‘I risk my life and freedom to sneak in here just to see you, and you brush me off? I thought you liked me.’

Ciel huffed.

“You come here every night, Neo. How do you expect me to get things done?”

Neo smirked, and Ciel sighed.

“Maybe you can just sit here and be content just to be in my company.”

‘Ah, but, Gorgeous, you forget one thing.’

“And what’s that?”

‘When I’m with you, I can’t seem to think straight.’

“For some reason, I get the feeling that you never think straight.”

Neo laughed silently.

Ciel realized that she’d slowly been walking closer to her girlfriend, and she stopped herself.

Neo raised an eyebrow, lifting her hand and gesturing to Ciel to close the distance between them.

Ciel shook her head, and Neo’s call became somehow more seductive, as she grinning cheekily at Ciel.

She sighed before stepping forward, closing the distance between them.

Neo grinned, daintily wrapping her arms around Ciel’s shoulders. Ciel was surprised as she leaned forward, her legs getting jabbed by Neo’s crosses knees.

Just as Ciel was about to move back and tell her girlfriend that she had to move her legs, Neo planted her feet on the ground. Her hands, which had begun to slide down Ciel’s back, landed on her hips as she stood.

Ciel let out a startled sound as Neo lifted her, pivoting the two of them 180 degrees and setting Ciel on the table.

Neo snickered against her lips and Ciel batted her on the arm playfully.

The two pulled apart a minute later, and Ciel found herself panting.

Neo set her forehead against Ciel’s own as she pulled back her hands. She’d started to do this recently, so as to not ruin the intimacy while she signed. She knew that Ciel liked to feel close to her, and Neo has to be creative to let her girlfriend know she was there when she was had to use her hands to communicate.

‘Did I ever tell you that kissing you makes me speechless?’

Ciel burst out laughing, but she glared at Neo.

“Just shut up and kiss me.”


	20. Victory Party

Weiss growled.

"He can't do that!" she snapped, pacing back and forth in their dorm room.

Ruby put a hand on her arm, trying to stop her, but Weiss continued as if she hadn't.

"He can't hold the people hostage like this to win the election!" she cried, throwing her hands up in her exasperation.

Yang stepped forward and put her hands on Weiss' shoulders.

The former heiress attempted to keep walking, but Yang held her still with gently firmness.

"Yang-"

The blond grinned and ran her hands down Weiss' arms until they ended up on her waist.

"Calm down, Angel."

Weiss growled.

"How can I?! My father is holding these people hostage by stopping all SDC operations until the election! He caused a riot, Yang!"

The blond pulled Weiss closer to her, leaning down.

"I know, Angel. And he won't get away with it."

Weiss was about to respond, but Yang cut her off with a kiss.

When she pulled back, the former heiress' eyelids fluttered open, her expression seeming dazed.

"Right, guys?" Yang asked.

Ruby and Blake nodded, each putting a hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"There's no way he'll get away with it," Ruby said.

Weiss sighed, leaning into her girlfriends.

"I sure hope not."

-

Ruby grinned, letting out a quiet laugh as she landed. After dozens of attempts (each of which had ended with her running face first into the wall at full speed to the sound of Yang's uproarious laughter), she had finally succeeded in splitting her body apart while using her semblance, reappearing of the other side of a small wall she'd had set up in the training room.

Across the room from her, Weiss was still training with her sister.

She had just managed to successfully summon a full knight, and she let out an uncharacteristic sound of excitement.

Winter raised an eyebrow at her younger sister, who flushed slightly and averted her gaze, trying to seem professional.

It was too late, however, as Blake and Ruby had turned toward her.

"Did you do it?!" Ruby asked immediately, using her semblance to shoot toward the two Schnee sisters.

Weiss nodded, unable to keep the grin off her face.

Ruby let out an excited laugh, throwing her arms around Weiss' shoulders as she hugged her.

"Great job!"

Blake appeared a moment later, a small smile on her face.

"I knew you could do it," the faunus said.

Weiss struggled to keep the smile off her face.

Ruby grabbed Blake and pulled her in for a hug.

"Did she do it?" Yang asked, jogging up.

Ruby gave her sister a thumbs up, and the blond let out a loud laugh, wrapping her arms around the other three and lifting them up. This elicited a squeal from Weiss.

The four pulled back and Winter cleared her throat.

Weiss flushed and looked away from her girlfriends.

"If you'll excuse us, my sister and I were training."

"Right! Sorry!" Ruby said, quickly backing away.

Blake did the same, but silently, and Yang reluctantly following suit.

Winter arched an eyebrow at Weiss, who gave her a slightly awkward smile.

"I apologize for the interruption," she said.

Before the two of them could continue their sparring, the door opened and General Ironwood and Clover stepped through.

Team JNIPR and RWBY stopped their training and congregated around the two men in the rough shape of a huddle.

The General took out his scroll and broadcasted the score of the election, which showed 70% Robyn and 30% Jacques. Weiss let out a visible sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping just slightly. Her teammates glanced at her, each smiling just slightly.

"Better Robyn than Jacques Schnee, right?" Yang asked, setting her forearm on Weiss' shoulder. The former heiress jumped at first, but relaxed under the touch. She seemed to be getting better about that.

"Oh, I suppose so. Either way, this election doesn't bode well for our stability."

"It could be a chance to work with Robyn and get Mantle on your side," Ruby said.

"She's right, you have to do something about Mantle. If you could get Robyn to trust you...," Nora trailed off, and Jaune immediately picked up where she had left off.

"I bet if you opened up to her she'd understand that you're being framed."

The General sighed.

"Perhaps... but it will only work if she's open too."

"I'm sure she would," Pyrrha encouraged.

Nora looked as if she was about to speak, but Ren stepped forward and interrupted her, earning him a look from all four of his teammates.

"I take it you're here for new mission assignments?"

"You could say that. The General and I want you to take the rest of the day to recuperate," Clover said, arms crossed against his chest as always.

"You're giving us a night off?" Blake asked, sounding hesitantly excited.

"Ordering it. After tonight's election, we'll be waking up to a very different Atlas tomorrow. I need you rested and ready for whatever that may bring," General Ironwood said.

He, Clover, and Winter exited the room, and the two teams glanced at one another, seeming almost worried.

-

Weiss was leaning against the ladder to a bunk bed, staring at her scroll, which had a live feed of the election pulled up.

"We still have hours ahead of us, but as votes come in, it looks more and more certain that Robyn Hill will fill the open council seat," the newscaster said.

"There's no way my father could've thought layoffs would do anything but hurt him. So why announce this the day before the election?" Weiss asked.

She strode across the room, falling on the bed beside Yang, who instantly wrapped her arms around the former heiress, pulling her close.

"Just seems like a power play that backfired to me. Won't matter in a few hours though," the blond responded.

"So what are we doing for our night off?" Ruby asked.

"Team FNKI invites Yang and I out dancing. I'm sure they'd be alright with you two joining us," Blake said.

Weiss made an expression of disgust, and quickly took the option off the table for the four of them.

The door opened, without a knock to warn the team, and Nora poked her head in.

"You guys wanna join us at Robyn's victory party?" she asked, gesturing over her shoulder to where Ren stood, "Penny's coming with!"

"Doesn't a victory party seem a bit premature?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah, she's still ahead by, like, a billion points," Nora said, waving her hand to dismiss Weiss' words.

Ruby seemed excited, and Weiss sighed, glancing at the final two members of their team questioningly.

Yang shrugged and Blake gave her an expression of disinterest.

Before Weiss could speak, a head poked in the doorway.

"Hey, Pyrrha, Ilia, and I were gonna catch a movie, wanna come with?" Jaune asked.

Weiss raised an eyebrow and started to respond with a definitive no, but Jaune gave her a pleading look.

"Please? I don't want to be the third wheel with them. Ilia just now started liking me."

Weiss, Ruby, Yang, and Blake each glanced at one another.

"Uh, Jaune, you do realize that the four of us are in a relationship, right?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, yeah, but there's four of you, and it's so much less awkward being the seventh wheel rather than the third," he said, giving her a hopeful look.

Weiss glanced at her girlfriends, getting a silent poll of their opinions.

"Sorry, Jaune, but you signed up for this," Weiss said, clipping her rapier to her belt and waiting for her teammates to join her.

The knight groaned, but nodded, ducking out of the doorframe and slinking off toward where she assumed Pyrrha and Ilia were waiting for him. Nora watched him go with a slight smirk on her face. He muttered something about asking Coco and Velvet.

"Does that mean you're coming with us?" she asked, turning to team RWBY.

"Either that or we can stay here," Yang said. She stopped to consider for a moment, smirking.

"On second thought? Staying here sounds kinda nice," she said, her hand on Blake's back sinking until it hovered on her waist.

The faunus flushed, and Ruby rolled her eyes.

"We're coming," the team leader said, grabbing Weiss' hand and pulling her outside, following Nora and Ren.

-

The group was walking into the victory party's meeting place. Ruby had attempted to walk in between Blake and Weiss, holding each of their hands in one of her own, but Yang and foiled her plan by snatching onto Blake and pulling the faunus back to walk with her. Nora had made her opinion of the affection overtly clear by fake gagging. Yang had just stuck out her tongue at the other girl.

"I understand Weiss' point though. A victory party does seem a bit premature," Ren said.

"Aw, let them have one sure thing," Nora said.

"Probably the last sure thing before Amity Tower goes up and every learns about... what we're fighting," Ruby said.

Weiss tightened her grip on Ruby's hand, and the team leader gave her an affectionate smile.

Team RWBY got distracted by one another, as always, and didn't notice Ren and Nora's quiet bickering until the two got louder, making the four girls glance ahead at them in confusion.

-

The six step inside, and were met with a myriad of campaign posters and slogans hung up on the walls around them, to the point where it was almost overkill.

Penny appeared suddenly from the crowd grinning.

"Friends!" she said.

"Hey, Penny," Ruby said, though she lacked her normal enthusiasm. She glanced behind her, finding that Nora and Ren were still in a bad mood.

"I am so glad you made it. It's just Marrow and I tonight, so more friends means more fun! Where are the others?" Penny said.

"Jaune's third wheeling with Ilia and Pyrrha, _again_ ," Nora said.

"At least Jaune and Pyrrha aren't awkward with one another anymore. He seemed really surprised and uncomfortable with Pyrrha and Ilia," Ren said.

Nora rolled her eyes in frustration.

"What? Was he afraid of healthy relationships and change?" she asked.

Ren frowned in confusion.

"No? Why would he be afraid of that?"

Team RWBY sighed, reappearing beside Penny and watching their two friends with frustration.

"Because maybe he really liked her, but didn't say anything, because he was scared about ruining their friendship."

Ren suddenly became nervous.

"Maybe he did, and that's a legitimate fear. Maybe he wasn't ready to take that next step."

Penny cocker her head to the side and leaned over the Ruby.

"I believe I may be confused. Who are we talking about again?"

"I'm not really sure," Ruby said.

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Obviously they're talking about their relationship."

Her girlfriends all look at her, looking slightly confused.

"Dust, it's a wonder we ever got together with your emotional ineptitude," she muttered.

Blake crosses her arms.

"I'm the one that confessed," she said.

Ruby and Yang were about to respond, but Penny interrupted them, speaking into her ear piece to Marrow.

"Penny, where'd you go?" he asked.

"Don't worry, I'm on my way."

Penny turned and Ruby grabbed onto her arm tightly.

"Don't leave us!" she pleaded, her team giving Penny looks with varying levels of panic.

The four followed her backstage and Marrow turned to speak with Penny.

"Oh hey, what-what're you doing here?" he asked.

"Just, uh, hangin' out with a friend while she's on the job," Ruby said, casually holding out her hand for a fist bump.

Penny's eyes light up with excitement and she took a minute to carefully line her arm up with Ruby's own before pulling back and slamming her fist against Ruby's own.

The team leader's eyes widen, but she stayed silent until Marrow spoke, distracting Penny.

Ruby groaned quietly, and Weiss turns, huffing and whispering under her breath.

"You have to be careful, you know she's strong," she chided, inspecting Ruby's hand.

"Yeah, real cute. Look, try not to be too much of a distraction. We need to be vigilant in case-"

Marrow was cut off by May, who was standing behind him, arms crossed.

"In case what?"

"In case someone tries to start trouble," Marrow responded.

"Oh, funny, that's why we're here. So feel free to take a hike," she said, gesturing over her shoulder at Joanna.

"Listen, the General's trying to help, all right? Just 'cause you can't understand-"

Robyn stepped up, smiling at them all.

"What's going on here, Wags? Oh, and the pipsqueak is back," she said.

Ruby growled at the words, and Yang laughed. Blake and Weiss seemed a bit defensive, standing at her sides.

"We're concerned about security risks, ma'am. The General doesn't want any surprises tonight."

"Fine, but stay out of the way. If I get elected tonight, we'll all have to learn how to get along."

"Sure, we won't have any problems, as long as you stay within the law."

"The law isn't perfect, you know. It's certainly not equal," Robyn said.

"Trust me, I'm well aware," Marrow emphasized his point, letting his tail drift into view.

Blake's hand strayed up to her ears self consciously, and Yang grabbed it with her own, pulling her arm down and threading their fingers together. Weiss glared at Robyn, setting her hand on Blake's other arm.

"My only goal is that all the citizens of Mantle and Atlas-and Faunus-have an equal shot at a good life," Robyn said.

"That sounds great. And you're planning to do all that equalizing legally, right?" Marrow asked.

"Everything I've done is legal," Robyn said.

"Of course, one hundred percent," Marrow said.

Behind them, on the stage, a familiar faunus tapped on the microphone in her hands. This caused a loud feedback, and she held one of her sheep ears in one hand.

" Ha-ha, well, that worked!" Fiona said.

The crowd starting to chant Robyn's name, and she backed up, offering them a grin just as she started to turn.

"Scram kids, we've got a job to do," Marrow said.

Ruby blew a raspberry at him as he walked off, which made Penny and Yang laugh while Weiss watched her with a frustrated expression.

"Why do I like her again?" she asked Blake.

The cat faunus laughed quietly, hitting the former heiress on the arm playfully.

Ruby and Penny waved at one another as they walked apart, team RWBY heading toward the crowd.

The four's good mood deteriorated when they saw Ren and Nora, who were still arguing.

"Can we please just not do this right now?" Ren asked, sighing as he looked down at Nora.

"We should have just gone to the movie," Ruby groaned.

"I offered for us to stay home," Yang said, holding out her hands as she grinned.

Ruby glared at her.

The faunus on stage, Fiona, started to speak.

"I want to thank everyone for going to the polls today. This is Mantle's moment. I know that, like me, you're all thrilled that we chose Robyn as our voice in Atlas. No one has fought harder for Mantle than she has. And...," she paused, trying to stop herself from crying and wiping a lone tear from her eye, "I know Robyn will continue that fight on the Council. Will you share a few words?"

The crowd started cheering again, but Fiona didn't seem to notice.

Her gaze was locked on Robyn off stage, her eyes filled with a loving light.

Robyn walked onto the stage and the cheering became louder. She took the microphone from Fiona with a gentle hand, putting a hand on Fiona's waist to steady her as she leaned upwards to quietly talk to her.

She put her hands on Robyn's jacket to steady herself, and the candidate looked down at her fondly.

"You're gonna go great. I just know you'll win," Fiona said.

Robyn laughed good naturedly, and Fiona moves closer, pulling the other girl down slightly by tugging on her jacket.

"I'm serious. I know you will," she reiterated.

Robyn was distracted from the rally for a moment, staring down at her lovingly.

Fiona pulled back, though she seemed reluctant, and Robyn suddenly seemed to remember where she was.

"I've never been much for public speaking, probably wasn't my best idea ever to go into politics. Thank you so much, everyone, for choosing me. You said you believe in me. But I'm the one who believes in all of you. You've proven to me that as individuals, we are strong. But together, we're unstoppable. So no matter what happens tonight, win or lose, we will continue to fight for our city, because it is this city that brings us together."

Nora and Ren were trading looks with one another, which made all of team RWBY rather frustrated.

The newscaster spoke, surprising several people in the rally.

"We're in the final minutes now, and it's looking to be a closer race than anticipated."

"Ren, what's going on? Why won't you just talk to me?" Nora asked.

"You know I've... never... been really good with talking," Ren said awkwardly.

"Then screw talking!" she said, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him in for a kiss.

He's shocked for a moment, staring wide eyed down at her, before he settles into the kiss, putting his arms around her while hers shift to settle on his neck.

Team RWBY watches them with satisfied looks.

"Finally. Took them long enough," Weiss said, huffing slightly.

"Awww! Good for them!" Ruby said excitedly.

Her attention was stolen from the new couple, however, when she saw a suspicious figure slinking toward the front of the stage. Ruby watches him for a few moments as the countdown for the closing of the poles continues.

Her eyes dart to Penny, and she sees that her friend is keeping tabs on Robyn.

"Watch out!" Ruby screams.

Ren's eyes shoot open and he tightens his grip on Nora, pulling her closer and detaching his lips from her own.

Ruby's team reacts immediately as well, hurrying to her side.

Just after she'd spoken, the lights went out.

Ren and Nora look around in confusion, holding onto one another tightly.

A loud scream punctured through the air, which elicited a panic from the room.

Ruby almost got trampled in the hysteria, but Blake grabbed onto her, faunus eyes clearly seeing the people around them despite the darkness.

Weiss grabbed onto Blake's arm with one hand while holding onto Yang with the other.

"What's going on?" Blake asked.

"There's someone here. I think they're trying to attack Robyn," she said.

Blake nodded and pulled the three of them to the stage, where Robyn and Fiona were now standing back to back with each other.

"Penny, what's going on over there?" Marrow asked over the ear piece.

Penny put on her night vision mode, searching through the entir"e room for the rest of her friends. In front of her, she sees a scorpion faunus slashing through several different civilians in front of them.

"Put down your weapon and surrender!" Penny said, summoning her knives from her back and pointing them at the faunus.

He disappeared into the crowd and Penny searched for him with narrowed eyes.

"This is Ace Operative Marrow, requesting immediate assistance!"

Robyn had her weapon drawn, one hand placed on Fiona and making sure the sheep faunus stayed at her side.

"Huntresses to me!" Robyn called.

Fiona glanced back at her, leaving her unaware that a figure was darting across stage toward her.

"Come on, we've gotta get you outta here!" Fiona said.

She turned back around to find an exit for Robyn, just in time for her to see the scorpion faunus slide his fingers against her side to dissipate her aura. Afterwards, he cut her with his weapon.

Fiona cried out in pain, dropping to her knees.

Robyn spun around.

"Fiona?!"

Penny shot toward the candidate, through the use of her jets, tackling Robyn to the ground just a moment before the scorpion was able to strike.

Penny hurried to her feet and held her weapons up, watching everyone around her distrustfully.

The lights turn back on suddenly, blinding almost everyone in the room.

"And the winner of the Atlas Council election is... Jacques Schnee!" the newscaster said.

Blake, who had been watching the whole thing and keeping her girlfriends out of the line of danger, realized how it looked. Penny was hovering over Robyn, her swords drawn and watching everyone else.

"It's Ironwood's robot!" a random citizen cried.

"Penny," Robyn muttered, sounding distrustful.

Penny turned to see Robyn staring at her.

"I... I didn't," she muttered.

The screen on stage shifted to show a live feed of Jacques Schnee.

"Oho, thank you everyone, thank you. It's all because of _you_. It's a new day in Atlas. We've won, we did it!" Jacques said.

Team RWBY hurried toward Fiona, who was still on the ground. Ruby was the first to slide to a stop on her knees, putting pressure on the wound.

"What happened?" Nora asked.

"STAY!" Marrow shouted at the crowd, causing them to skid to a stop.

"Get Penny out the back, _now_!" Marrow cried.

Nora and Ren shepherded the other girl out of the room. Robyn follows Penny out of the room with her crossbow, folding it up as soon as she was gone before scrambling to her feet and hurrying toward Fiona. She shoved Ruby off of Fiona and put pressure on the wound instead. She watched Fiona with worried eyes, leaning over her

"I-I'm okay, I'm okay," Fiona said, putting a hand on Robyn's hand comfortingly.

Marrow turned to face Robyn.

"I-I'm sorry. Is she-"

A crossbow bolt barely missed his head and he stopped, watching Robyn with wide eyes.

Ruby and Yang each grabbed onto him and tugged him away from Robyn.

"This wasn't us, I swear," Marrow said.

Team RWBY and him run off of the stage, Robyn glaring at them angrily.

When they were gone, she turned her attention to Fiona.

"Don't worry, we'll get you some help, you'll be alright," she said comfortingly, continuing to apply pressure to the girl's wound.

Fiona smiled up at her.

"That's what I said," she said, coughing gently.

Robyn took a long look at the wound on Fiona's side before leaning down and looping her free arm underneath the small faunus.

She lifted her up gently, continuing to apply pressure to the wound.

"I'm going to get you help, just stay with me," she said, hurrying out of the room and holding her gently.

"I know, Robyn," Fiona said, her eyes starting to droop closed.

Robyn shook her as she ran, waking her up again.

-

"A surprise victory by SDC Mining Corporation’s CEO, Jacques Schnee. Last minute voter turnout produced a dark horse victory for the Dust industry leader," the newscaster said.

They had regrouped and were standing in an abandoned alley.

"Penny, you _need_ to get to Atlas. Backup’s on the way," Marrow said.

She was silent.

"Penny?"

She turns a bit, as if to look back at him, but the sound of a distant roar halts her, and she takes off into the air.

"Grimm," Ruby muttered.

They all clicked their weapons into place, eyeing each other.

"We’ve got a long night ahead," Marrow said.

On screen, Jacques continued.

"And as the newest member of the Council, I pledge to serve each and every citizen of Mantle _and_ Atlas."


	21. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that original dialogue has been kinda lacking from the past few chapters, BUT that is ending REAL soon, trust me!

The grimm were taken out quickly, which was the first and only blessing of the night. Things only got worse afterwards, when the news started to report the numerous calls of the public to have Penny shut down. Ironwood had been show on the news as well, claiming that the footage of Penny attacking Robyn had been doctored.

"She didn't. I saw her," Blake said, turning to face Ruby comfortingly. Her ears were curled toward her head, her eyes nervous, "It wasn't her. I saw the scorpion faunus you were talking about."

Ruby nodded slowly, running a hand through her hair.

"I know, Blake."

"I should have something to help."

"You were trying to protect us, Blake. You did what you thought was right," Yang said.

Blake gave her a small, thankful smile.

Before anyone else could say something, General Ironwood's voice on the television was cut off.

"Citizens of Mantle - Following the most recent attack, a temporary prohibition of assembly is in place. There are to be no public gatherings of any kind. Please conduct your business and return to your homes before curfew. This is for your own safety."

Ren, Nora, and team RWBY's scrolls went off at the same time, and they all looked down at them to see what the new message said.

"We're being called back to General Ironwood," Ren said, sliding his scroll back into his pocket and squaring his shoulders purposefully.

There was a moment of hesitantion in the two groups before they started to head back toward their new school, heads down.

-

General Ironwood slammed his hand down on his desk, making a loud and reverberating sound as it shook the table. Around his desk, team RWBY, team JNIPR, Winter, and Clover all stood, watching the angry schoolmaster.

"This is the _**worst**_ case scenario. _More_ people are dead, _Penny's_ been framed, and somehow, JACQUES SCHNEE is _sitting_ on the council," he said angrily.

"This is the second shipment for that was hit today. It seems election night was the last push Robyn needed to go from hometown hero to full-on vigilante," Clover said.

"I'm afraid the problem is more complicated than that," Winter continued for him calmly, though her eyes were angry, her hands clenched. She couldn't believe that someone had tried to frame Penny. When she got her hands on them...

"It seems Robyn has _emboldened_ our suppliers in Mantle. They're refusing to sell us provisions until the city is adequately repaired. With Robyn redistributing the goods her team has _stolen_ , the Amity Project is completely stalled," General Ironwood said.

"But we're so close. There has to be some way we can finish the tower," Ruby said.

"There is - declaring martial law," Penny growled.

"You're not actually considering that, are you?" Nora asked.

"What's more important? Establishing communications, unite the world? Or appeasing a few city blocks?" General Ironwood growled.

"Don't make it sound trivial when you know it _isn't_! You keep talking about how we just need a little more time, but _you're_ not the one having to struggle!" Nora cried emotionally, glaring at him.

"We have _all_ had to make sacrifices for the greater good. Mantle has had to bear a lot of the burden, yes, _but_ \--"

"They're bearing _all_ of it! The longer this waiting game goes on, the harder each day gets for people down there and now you wanna send in _more soldiers_? You can't just _force_ people to fall in line. If you do that, you'll just be trading all of these problems for the Grimm!" Nora snapped.

The General stared at her for a moment before sitting down in his chair, sighing and rubbing his face in frustration.

"Please, General Ironwood. Squeezing Mantle this way... That kind of division plays right into hands," Ruby said, pausing to set a hand on Nora's shoulder, "That's why you're being framed."

"Right, the reason we called you here in the first place. You're _sure_ this was the man you saw?" Clover asked. He held up his scroll, showing a familiar scorpion Faunus. Ruby and Blake instantly nodded.

"That's him, that's who we saw," Blake said.

"That's impossible," Weiss breathed.

"Tyrian Callows was accused of murders all across Remnant. A homicidal maniac who escaped justice when his prison transport was attacked by Grimm. After that, he was never seen again," Winter said, as if her sister hadn't spoken.

"Does he work for Salem?" Ruby asked.

"If we ever had any doubts what Salem's next target was, I think those are officially out the window," Winter said lowly.

"But now we have a suspect. We can tell the people," Ruby insisted.

"That a long-lost serial killer is loose in Mantle - and the military has no idea where he is - might make things worse before they get better," Clover said.

"I am so _sick_ of _secrets_! If we just _told_ everyone about Amity, about _Salem_ \--"

Nora was cut off by Ironwood.

" _We **can't**!_" he snapped.

"If we talk about Amity now, we risk Salem's forces, who we know are here, working to sabotage it. If we tell them about _Salem_ now, we risk falling to the Grimm before we can reunite Remnant. We _have_ to finish the tower. I want Robyn Hill in custody. We can offer her a deal _if_ she gets Mantle to cooperate."

"We'll figure it out," Clover promised.

"Anyone not assisting with Robyn needs to focus on Tyrian. I want to know who he's working with, where he's hiding, _what_ he's planning, and how exactly that video of _Penny_ got all over _my_ kingdom. Do I make myself clear?" the General had started to make his way out of the room, but now he paused at the exit, staring back at them.

"Yes, sir," Clover and Winter said.

"Yes, sir," Ren echoed.

Ren's team looked at him in shock.

-

Winter strode into the room with Pietro.

"How is she doing?"

"She's confused, scared. We'll have her recorded visual data shortly. That should prove her innocence, but the damage has already been done," he responded, "The things people are saying about her... If Penny hadn't been there, Robyn would be--"

Pietro cut off, coughing.

"Someone is using our own technology against us. This doctored footage of Penny came from her work all around Mantle, stolen straight from our surveillance network."

"Obviously," Winter agreed.

She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow at him.

"And how are you doing?"

" If Maria hadn't offered to help me these past weeks, I'd have likely collapsed by now. Getting a communications tower into the sky seems impossible on its own, but now, to think of what people wanna do to my girl..."

Winter's heart started to hammer for a reason other than fighting for the first time in years.

"Even if the worst does happen, you could always reactivate her, could you not?"

"There's a reason why Penny is the only one of her kind. When the General first challenged us to find the next breakthrough in defense technology, most of my colleagues pursued more obvious choices. I was one of the few who believed in looking inward for inspiration," he said.

"You wanted a protector with a soul," Winter added.

"I did. And when General Ironwood saw her, he did too. Much to my surprise, the Penny Project was chosen over _all_ the other proposals."

"Of course he did," Winter said, sounding almost proud as she spoke, "you created an artificial aura, after all."

"Well, not quite," he said.

Winter put it together quickly.

"You gave her a part of yours."

"Yes, and each time I rebuild Penny, it takes a little more. If people get their wish and she's destroyed, I won't be able to...," he trailed off.

Winter put a hand on his shoulder, and he glanced back at her. He was crying now, wiping at his eyes as the droplets continued to form.

Winter's eyes were, for once, filled with emotion.

"I will find whoever's responsible for this, and I will make them pay, I promise."

-

"Next time, I wanna make sure we don't have to, and I can tell you, ambushing a Huntress who's just trying to help isn't an option I'm thrilled about choosing," Blake said.

"Then, maybe we shouldn't," Yang said.

She pulled out her scroll from inside her pocket, and began to send a message to the rest of their team.

-

Yang and Blake watched Robyn run off.

"Maybe we shouldn't have told her," Blake said, rubbing the back of her neck as her ears started to droop.

"We did what we thought was right, Kit-Kat."

"What if it ruins everything?"

"It won't."


	22. Invitations

Weiss sat on a chair in their dorm room, sighing in frustration. She held an invitation in her hands, running her thumb up and down. Around her sat her own team as well as JNIPR.

"Only my father would turn a hostile takeover into a fluffy PR move."

"On the news, he said he just wanted to break bread and hash things out. Maybe it won't be so bad? We do want them to start opening up to these people, right?" Ruby said.

"Yeah, but on his terms. Ironwood's going to be locked in a room at his rival's own dinner party. I know Jacques says he's happy to moderate, but all that really means is he'll be the one controlling the conversation," Ilia said.

"Not hard to imagine how that's gonna play out," Blake muttered.

"I still can't believe he won. Robyn was supposed to be the people's champion. Wasn't she? There's just too many coincidences," Weiss said, sighing.

Yang reached a hand out to put it on Weiss' knee.

"You really think your dad might have something to do with Salem?" Yang asked.

"I think my father would do whatever it takes to win," Weiss said, letting herself lean against Yang, who welcomed her with gentle arms.

"And we should do the same," Ruby said.

"Meaning...?" Weiss asked, glancing at her.

" Well, no one knows your dad better than you, and out of everyone going tonight, I'd say you're the only one who could snoop around the house and not be questioned. If Jacques Schnee is up to something, I think we should know what it is," Ruby continued.

Weiss took a second to think before nodding, giving her girlfriend a small smile.

"You're right."

-

Winter, General Ironwood, and Penny stepped out of the same car, looking around at the Schnee mansion.

"Suppose we should smile for the cameras?" the General asked.

"Sir, with all due respect, you'd have to pay me," Winter responded.

Penny glanced at the Special Agent. After a moment of consideration, where she looked far more awkward than before, she put a hand on Winter's arm.

Winter stopped herself from jumping, glancing down at Penny with a slightly shocked look on her face.

Penny removed her hand after a second, but Winter caught it with her own, holding it with surprising gentleness.

Penny found herself smiling widely. She'd never held hands like this before! Nobody seemed to like the idea of holding hands with a robot, or even consider it. Winter's hand was cold, and Penny instantly turned on the heaters underneath her palm. The other girl seemed surprised, and she glanced at Penny, one eyebrow slightly raised. Penny just smiled back at her enthusiastically, careful not to squeeze Winter's hand too hard (she'd realized her mistake last night after she'd almost broken Ruby's hand with their fist bump, and certainly didn't want to repeat that with Winter, who was already reserved enough as it was).

At Penny's side, Ciel raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two women and cataloging the information in the back of her head for further analysis later.

As she turned back to face the mansion, she caught the briefest glimpse of brown and pink. To anyone else, this would have seemed like a trick of the light or like they had something in their eye. Ciel stuttered mid-step, barely catching herself before she fell on her face.

Her eyes searched through the entirety of the surrounding area, and just as she was about to give up, she caught sight of a small sticky note stuck to the side of the mansion, about half a dozen meters in the air. Ciel squinted for a moment before she got a good look at the sticky note. It didn't have anything written on it, but it was in the shape of a heart. Ciel blushed slightly, her heart starting to hammer.

Don't tell me she actually came. That would be the stupidest thing she's ever done, Ciel thought. There was a moment of hesitation before she continued. Well, the stupidest thing she's done in the past week, that is, she thought, rubbing her temple with on hand.

The night before, they'd talked about the election, in between moments of Neo trying to distract Ciel, and the invitation that General Ironwood had gotten. Neo had said, or rather signed, something about joining her, and Ciel had laughed it off, because of course she wouldn't try it. She should have known better. Ciel knew what she'd gotten herself into when she started dating Neo, and this was definitely something she should have known was coming.

She groaned, causing Penny to glance at her, frowning.

Ciel shook her head, making Penny smile and turn back to Winter quickly.

Weiss stuttered as she made her way toward the door. Ruby set her hand on her shoulder, making Weiss give her a small, forced smile.

"Don't worry, Angel, you're here with us," Ruby said.

"Maybe that should make her worried," Blake said, her voice monotone, making Yang laugh.

Weiss glanced at her, finding a concerned look on the fuanus' face. She reached her hand out and slid it into Blake's own, threading their fingers together.

"I couldn't be happier that you're all here."

Blake gave her a small smile, but the thankful look in her eyes was enough to get her point across.

Weiss squeezed her hand and turned her attention back to the door as General Ironwood rang the bell. It swung open, and Weiss was met with Whitley's smug little face.

"Good evening, everyone," he said. His gaze flickered over all of them, lingering on Penny and Winter for a moment, but halting on Blake.

Blake's ears wilted and folded against her skull.

"Where's Klien?" Weiss asked, looking for the butler and trying to change the focus away from Blake.

"What an interesting way to say "Hello, dear brother, how have you been?"" Whitley said, watching Weiss intently with his arms crossed. He turned to face the General, raising an eyebrow. "General, exactly how large do you think our dining room table is?

"I happen to know it's enormous. But most of my guests will be on standby in case the council requests additional eye witnesses. Until then I'm sure they'll be happily celebrating your father's victory," he responded.

Whitley forced a smirk and nodded, allowing the large group (which consisted of the Ace-Ops, team RWBY and JNIPR, Winter, Penny, and the General himself).

They all walked into the hall, and Weiss tried not to flinch at the familiar sight. There were waiters and waitresses milling around and offering food to the guests. Whitley stopped when they reached the center of the room and turned to face the General, trying to keep his frustration hidden, though he wasn't doing very well.

"For those of you joining us in the dining room, please follow me," he said.

Clover, the General, Winter, and Penny followed, but Clover turned back with a smirk.

"Wish us luck," he said.

"Like you ever need extra luck, Cloves," Ilia said, smiling slightly. Clover looked around the room for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pin, which was obscured by his hand.

"Yeah. Looks like you guys might need it more," he said, tossing the pin at Ilia.

She caught it and turned it in her hands as he walked off. It was a small pin, easily able to be obscured in the palm of her hand had she wanted to, with a lime green color. She recognized it after a moment, and her eyes widened. It was a replica of the four leafed clover that Clover wore on his jacket everyday. Ilia thought for a moment before pinning it to her own coat.

Pyrrha smiled as she watched Clover go, giving him silent thanks. But she knew she didn't have to. He did it because of Ilia, not because he wanted thanks.

"I think I'll just stick to patrolling the grounds," Marrow said, striding off and heading vaguely toward another waiter.

"Right, well, don't wander off, don't break anything, and be ready in case the General calls on you," Harriet said, walking off with Vine and Elm following after her.

"Let's eat them out of house and home," Elm said, grinning and rubbing her hands together.

Yang turned to face the two teams of students.

"Counterpoint, how about we do wander off, consider breaking things, and then all that other stuff," she said.

"I'll be in touch," Weiss said, gesturing at her ear and winking at her girlfriends before walking off. She was headed toward the stairs. Before she could go up, she was intercepted by Whitley.

"Dear sister, I was hoping we could use this time to catch up," he said, a smug look on his face, "I have to know, why did you go through so much trouble to leave home, only to come crawling back?" he continued.

Weiss barely controlled her anger, sighing and glancing back at her friends and girlfriends.

"This might be a problem," Pyrrha said, frowning.

-

"General Ironwood, please... have a seat," Jacques said. He was sitting at the head of the enormous table, hands set together just below his face, mouth turned into the slightest smirk under his mustache.

"Councilman Sleet, Councilwoman Camilla," the General said. He took a seat at the other end of the table, eyes flickering across all of the other members at the table with narrowed eyes.

"Councilwoman Hill would have had a nice ring to it. Though I suppose I should just be grateful I got invited to the table," Robyn said suddenly. The General was surprised to see her, and he eyed Jacques with suspicion, clearly wondering why he'd invited her.

"Miss Hill, that vigor of yours is precisely why we're grateful to have you with us tonight," Jacques said.

"What is she doing here?" Ironwood asked.

"What we're all doing here, James, addressing the concerns of our Kingdom, which means we have much to discuss," he responded.

"Indeed. I was hoping we could start by--"

"Are we safe with her here, by the way?" Jacques asked, watching Penny.

She stiffened at the words, eyes flickering down to her lap.

"I do recall some confusion regarding her involvement with that horrific massacre," he continued.

"As the official report stated, that footage was doctored. Penny is completely under my control," the General said.

Penny flinched. Winter glared at the General for once.

"Which is concerning, I think," Jacques said.

"Concerning?" the General said.

"Let's talk about exactly what it is you control," Jacques said, eyes narrowing.

Winter clutched her cup far too tightly.

Under the table, her other hand found a home on Penny’s own.

Penny glanced at her and smiled just slightly.

-

“Why won’t this kid buzz off?” Yang growled, watching her girlfriend and her brother out of the corner of her eye.

“We need to do something,” Blake said.

Jaune started to think while Nora bounced on the tips of her toes, clutching a tray with a maniacal grin, like some sort of super villain. Ilia was trying to blend in, but she was far too awkward and kept bumping into people and instantly turning a bright shade of red.

“Team, I have a plan!” he hissed, gaining all four of his teammates’ attention.

-

Ren and Nora were both walking with plates of food, only one for Ren and about ten for Nora. The two were walking right toward each other.

“Well, Whitley, I’m sure the company is lucky to have you, but if you’ll pardon me-”

Weiss tried to step around Whitley, but he wouldn’t let her, blocking her with his body.

Jaune and Pyrrha watched from behind a pillar together.

“And where exactly is it that you’re going?” Whitley asked, eyes narrowed.

Nora made her way through the room, holding up a large pile of food.

“Careful, messy food comin’ through!” she cried.

“Of course once I’m old enough to drive, the company has promised me my own parking space,” Whitley continued smugly. Weiss tried not to punch her annoying little brother.

A butler offered a drink to another woman.

“Care for a drink?”

“Don’t mind if I do!”

Nora and Ren intentionally bump shoulders, and Nora teetered toward Whitley.

Just before she could spill on him, she hit the dinner guest, who screamed, dropping her glass of wine. She slipped and fell to the ground.

Jaune cursed.

“Pyrrha! Deploy the girlfriend!” he hissed.

Pyrrha signaled at Ilia across the room and the faunus nodded nervously.

She hurried across the room.

“Ma’am, do you need some help?” she asked, pulling the woman to her feet.

Just as the dinner guest was about to stand, Ilia “slipped” on the slipped wine and fell backwards, grabbing onto Ren by the cuff on his shirt, looking as if she was attempting to balance herself. The two toppled backward, Ren looking mildly surprised, and hit Whitley. The three fell to the ground and Ren aimed his pile of appetizers, slamming them against the heir’s face.

Weiss watched the entire thing with wide eyes, her hands firmly placed over her mouth and nose.

Whitley stood, shoving Ilia and Ren off of him, and tried to wipe off his face.

“If you’ll excuse me,” he said, sending a nasty glare at Ilia.

Weiss glanced over her shoulder at her girlfriends. Ruby was openly laughing, her shoulders shaking in her amusement, while Blake and Yang were smirking.

Weiss almost lost it at their expressions, but forced herself to take the opportunity to race up the stairs.

-

“The fact of the matter is, you’ve operated with a fair amount of autonomy for the past few years, James. But we need now is for you to work with us,” Councilman Sleet said.

Winter was tapping a finger on the table in frustration.

Penny hesitantly reaches her hand out under the table and set it on Winter’s knee. The former heiress jumped slightly, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

Penny smiled thinly and Winter returned the favor.

They turned their attention back to the conversation, Penny’s hand gently resting on Winter as well.

“Sir, I have-” General Ironwood didn’t get the chance to finish.

“It’s obvious that no kingdom intends to declare war on Atlas. We had no involvement in the incident at Haven, we have proof our drones weren’t acting on orders at Beacon. At this point, the closure of Atlas borders is only serving to hurt our relations with the rest of the world,” Councilwoman Camila said.

“I-”

Once again, the General didn’t have the chance to speak.

“The rest of the world? It’s hurting us. The people of Atlas are suffering and they want to know why,” Robyn snapped.

“Quite right, Ms. Hill. And I’m afraid there’s more than just your choices that have brought harm to our citizens as of late. Have your forces found any additional evidence as to who is slaughtering innocent civilians down in Mantle?” Jacques said.

“That is an ongoing investigation, the details of which are classified, I’m afraid,” Clover said.

“I’m afraid of the ever-growing list of classified information you seem to be keeping. I asked our fellow councilmen here to shed some light on your Amity Colosseum project and, as it turns out, they know about as much as I do,” Jacques said instantly.

“Even you don’t know?” Robyn asked, shocked.

“The Amity Project will help with all of the issues you’ve presented, but you have to understand that discretion is a top priority at this time,” Ironwood said.

“Are you saying you don’t trust us?” Jacques asked, smirking.

Winter’s finger tapping had sped up and now she slammed her hand on the table.

She stood, about to speak, and Penny moved a hand to her arm.

“Friend Winter,” she whispered, gripping her forearm tightly, “don’t do this, you’ll be playing into his hand.”

Winter glanced down at Penny, considering for a moment.

“Excuse me,” Winter said Before she stalked out of the room silently.

“Me as well,” Penny said, hurrying after the other girl.

-

Weiss walked through the empty and decrepit halls. She finally stopped when she saw a familiar door.

She pushed it open, watching intently for any sign of workers. She hurried inside and closed it, leaning against the door and letting out a sigh of relief.

“Hello, darling.”

Weiss spun, coming face to face with her mother, Willow.

-

Winter stood, arms crossed, in the hallway, tapping her foot in irritation.

“Are you okay?” Penny asked.

“I’ll be fine. I just let my emotions get the better of me.”

“What do you mean?” Penny asked.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Penny instantly curled in on herself. She fidgets with her skirt.

“No, no, what I mean is, this place holds a lot of memories for me, specifically. I thought I was in control, but... you saw me. I acted like a petulant child,” Winter said, her voice turning gentle as she looked at Penny fondly.

“You were fine to me. You were acting from the heart.”

Penny put her hands to her chest.

“And that is precisely the problem. I should have just stayed in line,” Winter said, cursing herself.

“I guess you’re right, I don’t understand.”

Penny turns to go, but Winter catches her, grabbing onto her arm.

“Maybe I could explain.”

“It’s not emotions I don’t understand, I understand that,” Penny glanced at the floor, “I just don’t understand the... complexity you’re talking about. Why do you have to make them so difficult?”

Winter sighed, running a hand down her face.

“We don’t try to make them difficult, Penny. They just... are, sometimes.”

“I see.”

Penny stared up at Winter for a minute, pausing as the Special Agent ran her hand up and down her arm.

“I think I may be starting to understand.”

-

Weiss closed the door behind her, letting out a deep breath.

That had been a... tough conversation.

Her hand tightened on the tape she’d gotten.

That was worth it.


	23. Sneak Attack

Snow fell gently outside, and the people in Mantle panicked.

"Did... they turn off the heat?!"

Panic set in.

-

Weiss slammed open the doors to the dining room.

"Wait!" she cried. "You've got the wrong man on trial! I know who's been framing Ironwood, who rigged the election. And my father does, too. He's been working with him."

She showed the room the recording on her scroll.

"Is that... Arthur Watts?" Camilla asked.

"That's impossible! Dr. Watts died in the Paladin Incident years ago!" Sleet cried.

"Wha-- W-w-what _is_ this?" Jacques asked, sweating.

"Play it," General Ironwood said.

On the video, Jacques spoke, "That bastard is costing me more money every day with this embargo. I'd lay off every employee in Mantle if I wasn't trying to get their damn votes for this Council seat!"

"What if I said you could have your cake _and_ eat it, too?" Watts asked, smirking.

"What did you have in mind?" Jacques asked.

"James Ironwood never recognized my genius. After everything I gave him, he still disgraced me. I simply wish to return the favor," Watts responded.

"What's in it for me?" Jacques asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A seat on the council. All I need is your login credentials for the Atlas network," Watts said, smirking underneath his identical mustache, "You promise to make Ironwood's life a waking nightmare, and I will guarantee you victory at the polls by giving the voters down in Mantle a little... "digital push", if you will."

"I always knew you were a good scientist, Arthur... but I never knew you were such a good salesman," Jacques said on the video player.

General Ironwood stepped forward and put a hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"Enough."

Weiss paused the scroll.

"That, _that_ is-- I-- I can explain that. ( _clears throat_ ) That... isn't real," Jacques, standing up shakily.

" _Jacques_ , take your seat," Sleet said.

Jacques sprinted toward the door and threw it open, only to be stopped by a full sized knight Arma Gigas.

" _Weiss_...," he pleaded.

"Jacques Schnee, you're under arrest," Weiss said lowly.

There was a moment of silence.

"Can I do that?"

-

A soldier watching the riots in Mantle stumbled back as they started another fire. He pulled out a scroll, hand shaking, and typed in a number.

"The situation here is getting out of control. Please advise."

-

The members of the council, team RWBY, Penny, Clover, Robyn, and Winter stood, staring down at Jacques with disgust.

"I knew you'd stoop low to get what you wanted, Jacques. But this?" the General said lowly.

Clover glanced at Ironwood and slid his scroll out of his pocket, stepping outside to listen to the message he'd gotten.

"This is all a great leap, James," Jacques said shakily.

"No, it's quite simple really -- now that I know Arthur Watts is alive. Working with a madman like Tyrian Callows, it would be easy for someone like him to coordinate an unthinkably heinous act like the one in that warehouse. Watts designed Mantle's entire security network. He _used_ that access to hack the surveillance system and frame someone else for the job," Jacques said, "All while stealing an election. And once you became a Councilman, your newly granted clearance gave him a ( _slamming his hands onto the chair's arms_ ) _backdoor_ into Atlas' secure network. But you probably hadn't even considered that, had you?

"The people that died that night, their blood is on _your_ hands," Robyn said, seething as she clenched her fists. Her thoughts went to Fiona, and she barely kept herself from punching the man.

"Jacques Schnee must be tried, not only for treason, but as an accesory to murder," Sleet said.

"These are _outrageous_ accusations! I only intended to win the election. I had nothing to do--"

Jacques was cut off by Robyn.

"ONLY?!" she snapped. She threw a chair against the wall, causing everyone in the room to stare at her.

"What else will he be able to do with the access Jacques' given him?" Camilla asked.

"With enough time... whatever he wants," General Ironwood responded.

Winter stepped outside of the room, and Penny followed after her hastily.

"Winter, I'm sorry-"

Winter let out a laugh, causing Penny to jump in shock, looking at her friend with concern.

"Friend Winter, are you alright?"

Winter forced herself to stop laughing, wiping at her eyes.

"Yes, Penny, I'm fine. It's just... that bastard finally got what was coming for him," she said, shaking her head with a wide smile.

Penny stepped forward worriedly.

"So... you're not upset that your father has just been arrested?"

Winter shook her head, and Penny smiled at her.

"Oh! That's good."

Winter, her shoulders more relaxed than Penny had ever seen as she smiled at her, stepped forward, putting her hands on top of Penny's hands.

"You're a wonderful person, Penny."

"Oh. Well, thank you, Friend Winter!" she said.

Winter, in her excited haze, was a moment from closing the distance between them, but the ringing of several scrolls gave her halt.

"Wait... wait, _what_? What do you _mean_ the heat has gone off?" Sleet cried.

Penny and Winter hurried back into the room, still holding hands.

Weiss gasped at the words, holding her hands to her mouth. Blake's ears turned downward in worry as she subconsciously stepped closer to her girlfriends. Yang's eyes flashed, almost turning red in her anger.

"You have to believe me, I-I-I didn't know he was planning this," Jacques stuttered.

Winter slammed her hands against the side of her father's chair, causing him to flinch away from her.

"You are going to shut your mouth and get the heating grid up and running again!" she snapped.

"I... I've been informed that we can't get into the system. It's... it's been blocked off," he responded.

"Without heat down there... people are going to die," Sleet said.

There was no way into the system. And the Grimm were coming. They had to get the students, Hunters, and Huntresses out there.

-

Ciel made her way through the crowded dining room, stepping onto a balcony she had finally found after about half an hour of searching (this mansion was very confusing, and she had to keep her search secret).

She glanced around, arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently.

"I know you're out here, just show yourself."

There was a moment of silence before Neo dropped onto the railing in front of her.

 _'Hey, gorgeous,'_ she signed.

Ciel fought the smile growing on her lips.

"What do you want?"

Neo put a hand to her chest, gasping silently.

 _'No 'hi, honey, I missed you!' or 'are you alright? I know it's difficult for you to get past the guards to see me, but you do it anyways because you're in love with me,''_ Neo signed, smirking at Ciel.

Ciel was about to respond when she suddenly realized that Neo had dropped the L word.

Ciel flushed and glanced at her, finding the criminal was smirking, but had a slightly worried look in her eyes.

"Neo, I-"

"Attention, all students and professionals, the heat in Mantle has been shut off, and the panic has called Grimm in mass numbers. Please report to the aircrafts out front," a voice boomed through the mansion.

"I have to go," Ciel said, "We'll talk later," she promised.

She took off down the hall, leaving Neo watching her with a frustrated, but worried expression, on her face.

The criminal sighed, tightening her hand on her parasol, and leapt off the balcony. Seems like she had plans for the night, other than nagging her girlfriend, that is.

Ciel raced down the hallway and, in her haste, almost bumped into Penny.

"Friend Ciel! I was looking for you!" she cried, "We have to save Mantle!"

Ciel nodded, and Penny's arms looped around her underneath her arms. She took off, carrying her partner into the air.

-

"She can control Grimm?" Sleet asked, clearly talking about Salem.

"Ironwood wouldn't lie about something like this," Camilla responded.

"Do you really think he can stop her?" Sleet continued.

Robyn stared at the doorway.

-

Team JNIPR, team RWBY, and the Ace-Ops were on a singular airship.

"You have your team assignments, we have to go," Clover said.

He fell out of the ship backwards and Ilia rolled her eyes.

"Show off," she muttered.

Pyrrha held out her arm and Ilia let herself be pulled into Pyrrha's embrace as the redhead jumped out of the aircraft, following Clover.

"Be careful," Weiss whispered.

"No promises," Yang said, winking at her as she headed to the exit.

"I love you three," Weiss said quickly. She blushed and leapt out of the exit, her Ace-Ops she was paired with following after her. Marrow muttered something about children.

Ruby gave Blake a quick hug.

"Love you!" she called, jumping out as well, using her scythe to keep her from splattering on the ground.

Yang and Blake muttered, "I love you," at the same time, blushing as they leapt into the winds, falling toward the city as well.

-

Neo cursed, chasing after the robotic aura-having girl, or whatever Ciel had described her as. She hadn't paid attention enough to learn the other girl's name (she really was distracted whenever Ciel was nearby, despite all of her joking about it).

She dashed through the alleyways quickly, ignoring Jacques Schnee as he was shoved into the cop car. Well, she didn't completely ignore it. Neo let herself snicker, but not get distracted. She needed to make sure that Ciel wasn't hurt.


	24. Set-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a shorter chapter!

Neo stalked back and forth on top of a nearby building, ignoring the Grimm around her, aside from destroying the ones that came too close to her.

 _This is stupid_ , Neo thought, _If I do this, I'll definitely get caught, and-_

She stopped, eyes widening as she watched a Beowolf attacking Ciel.

Neo cursed, throwing herself off of the building, using her parasol to help her float down to the ground.

Ciel raised her weapon to block a blow from the Grimm, but Neo was there first, putting herself in between her and the attacking Beowolf.

Neo slammed her parasol against the wolf's arm before stabbing it in the face with a solid jab.

The Grimm disappeared in a cloud of dust, and Neo spun to face Ciel.

 _'Hello, Gorgeous,'_ Neo signed, setting her parasol on the ground and leaning against it casually.

Ciel was stunned for a moment before she grinned, something that Neo barely saw her do.

"You came to check on me?"

_'Don't act so shocked, Gorgeous.'_

"This is definitely not the time, but... I love you too, Neo," she said.

The criminal grinned, about to respond, but paused, raising her weapon and stabbing another Grimm before it could scratched Ciel in the back.

_'Definitely not the time, but thanks.'_

Ciel nodded, a small smile on her face, and turned to face the next Grimm, which was surrounding and closing in on a family.

Neo grabbed onto Ciel's hand, pulling her backward, spinning in a tight circle before launching Ciel. She raised her weapon, two small swords that she had pulled from inside the lining of her gloves, and defending the family.

Neo spun her parasol for a moment, gathering some momentum, and raced toward the Grimm, stabbing it through the chest as Ciel distracted it. The Beowolf disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The civilians thanked Ciel and turned to do the same to Neo, but stopped.

"Isn't that the escaped convict?" the mother asked.

 _'One and the same,'_ Neo signed.

"No, definitely not. You're mistaken," Ciel said quickly, "Come with me to the safe house."

_'Those are gonna fill up soon, Gorgeous.'_

_'It's the best we have,'_ she signed back.

They led the small family of civilians through the streets, and Ciel whispered into Neo's ear.

"Why did you follow me?"

_'Can't let you get hurt, now can I?'_

Ciel smiled at her fondly and Neo looked away, face turning a light shade of pink.

-

Emerald growled, watching the Hunters, Huntresses, and students attempting to defend the civilians from the Grimm attack. She pulled out her communicator, sending a message to Watts.

-

Qrow took a shot, sitting at the bar with a frustrated growl. Lionheart was refusing backup and help for his school, and there was nothing Qrow could do about it. This idiot had one of the most powerful pieces of technology underneath his school, but he didn't care. What could he-

"Excuse me?" a voice asked.

"You know, I don't think they allow kids in here, pipsqueak."

"Shut up, I'm getting there," the same voice muttered to himself.

Qrow gave him a look of confusion.

"Um, I'm supposed to tell you, I'd like my cane back?"

"It's good to see you again, Oz."

-

Coco watched her girlfriend with a fond smile as she copied Pyrrha Nikos' weapon, stabbing a nearby Beowolf with it before spinning and transforming it into Ruby's rifle and shooting another.

"Pay attention, Coco," Fox chided, blocking a Grimm that was about to decapitate her.

She forced herself to do as he said.

-

Robyn smirked, kicking Tyrian as he laid on the ground, tied up by Clover's ropes. She leaned down, putting her face near his.

"You're lucky he's here," she gestured at Clover, "Because I've got a score to settle."

Her mind shot to Fiona, and she kicked Tyrian again as she stood, walking away.

-

"He finally told them," Ruby muttered to herself. The General had finally told the truth about Salem to the entirety of Mantle and Atlas. She shook her head, turning to focus on the matter at hand. If she was distracted for too long, she'd probably get her head bitten off.

-

Watts stared at the poster, smirking. There was a Faunus on it, saying " _CAUTION VOLATILE DUST ON-SITE_ "

"Hmm… This will certainly do the trick. Although I wouldn't exactly call it finished," he muttered to himself.

Before Watts could do anything, another voice interrupted the silence.

" _Arthur Watts_ … Welcome."

"It _wasn't_ finished... it was _bait_ ," Watts said.

The two prepared to fight.

"You know, James, this place has always been a technological marvel," Watts continued, "Truly. Even before you went and, uh, did all this. The different types of Dust, the biome system, and of course, everything that goes into controlling them."

Ironwood aimed his revolver at the criminal, glaring.

"You always were a pain in the ass."

"At the risk of sounding cliche, James...," Watts said,I _won't_ be going down without a fight."


	25. Twists

Ironwood panted, clutching his burnt hand.

"I will sacrifice... _whatever it takes_... to stop her."

"Oh, I hope you do, James. I hope you do," Watts said, spitting blood on the floor.

-

Robyn kicked Tyrian in the face again, smirking.

"Where's that smile now?" she asked.

He didn't respond. Apparently her kick had knocked him out, which made her smirk widen. Good.

"This is Clover. Requesting prisoner transport."

-

"We have Tyrian Callows in custody," Ironwood's scroll said. He finished wrapping his hand and called Winter.

"All students are to remain indoors until further notice. Faculty and upperclassmen can provide gui-" she paused, pulling out her scroll, but continuing to gesture for the students to get indoors.

"Schnee," Ironwood started.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Was anyone caught trying to enter the school grounds while I was away?"

Winter's eyes widened, and she glanced backwards at the school.

"N-no."

"Are. You. _Sure_?"

Winter spun and raced into the school, heart racing.

-

"Still afraid, I see," Emerald mused from inside the school, "Now show me where you've been hiding her."

-

Penny paused in flight, listening to her communicator.

"Affirmative," she responded.

Her eyes searched the ground below her, landing on Ciel. She saw, surprisingly, that Neo was helping her.

Penny raced back toward the school, thankful that the criminal was watching her partner's back.

-

"I don't understand," Weiss said.

Team JNIPR and RWBY sat on an airship together, headed back toward the school.

"Why would the general call us back without giving a reason?" she continued.

"Especially with evacuations still going on in Mantle," Ren said.

"You don't have to understand orders, kids. You just have to follow them," Elm said from the pilot's seat.

Civvy transports won't be stopping anytime soon. If the general says he needs us now, he needs us _now_ ," Harriet continued.

-

The two teams stepped into the General's office.

Ironwood spun in his chair to face them.

"We have made a critical error."

He set a black queen chess piece on the table.

"The Black Queen was the symbol Salem showed us before we almost lost everything. Her way of telling us she was inside. That it was too late. We stopped Watts. We stopped Callows, but someone was _here_. They put this in _my_ office to tell _me_ that-"

He stopped, a look of realization showing on his face.

"What if Mantle was just a distraction? What if it was just to draw us away from the academy to, to-"

He was panicking, speaking hastily as he looked at the two teams.

"Sir. I-it's going to be okay. We've got Mantle on our side now, and-" Weiss tried to calm him down.

"How do we know that wasn't part of their plan?" he slammed his hand down on his desk and stood, "How do we know they didn't want us to bring people into Atlas by the _thousands_?"

"In trying to save everyone, we left ourselves most vulnerable," Elm said.

"Salem has been one step ahead of us this _entire_ time!" he hit his desk again, causing the chest piece to fall to the ground and make the sound of glass bouncing against the floor.

"It's... glass," Ruby said, eyes wide, " _Black_ glass. This was Cinder."

"Cinder's dead," Pyrrha said quickly.

Ilia nodded, grabbing Pyrrha's hand with her own.

"Then it's someone who worked for her," Ruby said.

"Someone's taken over the mantle of Cinder," Blake continued for her.

"Doesn't matter if it's her or a copycat, someone's here!" Ironwood snapped.

"Sir, this isn't over yet. We're with you," Blake said.

The General glared at Blake.

" _Are_ you with me?"

Blake took a step back, putting her between Weiss and Yang as the General stalked forward. Her ears folded over, and her girlfriends glanced at her, each taking a more defensive stance, hands landing on weapons.

"Sir?" Vine asked, confused.

"How did Robyn know about the Global Communications Project?" he asked, voice low.

The Ace-Ops stared at team RWBY, who glanced at one another.

"We told her," Yang said. The four girls nodded. They'd talked about it, even if Blake and Yang had been the two to actually tell her. "The night of the ambush," Yang continued.

"You did _what_?!" Elm snapped.

"We were _trying_ to help!" Yang defended.

"By going behind our backs?" Marrow growled.

Harriet stalked toward the four girls, and they moved closer together.

"Wait. Does that mean you let her escape?" Harriet asked.

"Robyn is on our side! She always has been," Yang snapped.

" _We_ didn't know that for sure," Ironwood said.

Weiss saw the bag on Watts' bad, which the General had kept on his desk, move ominously.

" _None_ of this matters right now!" Weiss snapped.

" _Loyalty **always** matters!_" the General snapped, eyes glowing with anger as he moved toward them.

Red tentacles shot out of the bag on Ironwood's desk, causing a creature to crawl out of it.

Yang put her arm out to the side, blocking the other three members of her team with it. Ruby and Weiss scrambled to get her weapon out while Blake stared in shock, her ears picked up in alarm.

"General Ironwood," Salem drawled.

"The brave Huntsmen and Huntresses that bested Arthur Watts. Congratulations," she said, looking at the three teams in room.

"We stopped Tyrian, too. And we stopped Cinder, and we'll stop anyone else you try to send here," Ruby said angrily.

"Dear girl, their goal was never victory. It was merely to set the stage," Salem said.

"For what?" Ironwood asked.

"For me," she drifted closer to the General with a smirk, "Time isn't on your side, James. It's _always_ been on _mine_. The people of have suffered enough. Surrender the Staff of Creation to me, and they needn't suffer any further."

"That's... _not_ going to happen," Ironwood said.

"Simply accept the futility of your situation...," she said, "And this can _all_ be over."

Her eyes turned to Pyrrha, eyes somehow turning darker black.

"So this is your new Maiden?"

The Ace-Ops stared at Pyrrha in shock.

"We will stop you," Ruby growled.

"Your _mother_ said those words to me," Salem said.

"My... mother?"

"She was wrong, too."

Ruby begins crying and quickly lowers her head and presses her hands to her eyes. In the image in her mind, Summer is standing even farther away, turning her back to Ruby, with the wind blowing harder. Ruby frantically wipes her tears away. Her silver eyes flicker a couple of times, and then she yelps as her eyes emit a brief flash.

Her team reacts immediately.

Yang drops to the ground and lets Ruby put her head in her lap. Weiss grabbed onto the team leader's hand, letting her squeeze it tightly. Blake ran a hand through Ruby's hair, which she knew calmed the girl.

"That's Salem?! That's who we're up against?!" Marrow cried.

"And she's apparently on her way," Harriet said.

"But we'd be alerted if any forces had approached the Kingdom. We have long-range proximity alarms all along the coast, and-"

Elm was cut off by Vine.

"They're offline. With all of the chaos, we didn't notice."

"Watts must have shut them down!" Marrow cried.

"Or they've already been destroyed," Ironwood said, voice emotionless.

"What? _All_ of them?" Elm cried.

Blake tore her gaze from Ruby, but kept on in her attempts to soothe her girlfriend.

"You said in your speech that Amity Tower was ready to launch. Was that true?" she asked.

Silence held for a moment.

"No. You just said that... to lure out Watts," Yang said slowly.

"General Ironwood?" Weiss asked.

"I sent your sister to claim the power of the Winter Maiden," he said.

"What?" she asked, voice quiet from shock.

"When I realized we'd been compromised, I knew we couldn't wait any longer. The Staff _has_ to be locked away."

He tightened his grip on his revolver.

"If we harness the power of the Staff, and raise ourselves high into the atmosphere, the city's artificial climate will keep citizens and food supplies unharmed. _Always_ out of reach of whatever Salem may try to send our way."

"But we're nowhere near finished evacuating everyone! You'd be leaving Mantle to _die_!" Blake cried.

"Yes... I would."

Yang glared while Blake and Ruby stared at him in shock. Weiss looked on the verge of tears, both for Mantle and her sister.

"We can't allow Salem to capture the . _This_ is our best chance at getting the Staff and the Maidens as _far_ away from her as possible," he said.

Jaune gaped, scrambling to grab his weapons far too late. Ren and Nora backed up slightly, putting themselves in front of Pyrrha protectively. Ilia grabbed onto her girlfriend's hand tightly.

"You can't just leave them!" Jaune cried.

"You can't just take Pyrrha," Nora growled.

"Sometimes, doing the right thing means making tough decisions," Ironwood said.

"You're right. And I think the right thing to do would be to stand our ground," Blake said.

Every member of both teams joined her, echoing her idea.

There was a moment of silence, tense and heavy, before Ruby pulled out her scroll.

She dialed a familiar number.

"Ironwood's declaring Martial Law and abandoning Mantle! Salem is coming, and he's going to use the Staff to move Atlas. If we don't stop him, then Mantle's going to be des-" her scroll stopped working. "What? No!" she cried.

"We are saving who we can," Ironwood said.

"I'm sorry it's come to this, but until Atlas and the Relics are safe, you're all under arrest," he continued.

"We won't just let you take us," Ruby said.

"I know," the General said.

He raised his hand and gestured toward them. The Ace-Ops raced toward them.

"Secure the Maiden," Ironwood said.

"Get Pyrrha out of here!" Ruby cried.

"On it!" Ren, Jaune, and Nora said together.

Team JNIPR raced out of the room, and Harriet used her Semblance to follow.

Ruby threw herself in front of the Ace-Op, causing both of them to tumble to the ground.

Blake grabbed onto Ruby's outstretched hand and pulled her to her feet.

"We won't let you do this," she said.


	26. Framework

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is shorter, but I am DEFINITELY getting back off the canon track now, and it'll stay that way!

Velvet stared down at her scroll in shock. She had tried to get the rest of the message from Ruby, but it didn't work.

She looked to her teammates.

"We need to get the people out of here NOW!" she snapped.

They nodded, having heard the same message, and hurried toward the surrounding people.

"Yatsu, Fox, help me with the people," Coco said, "Velvs, tell the other students, we need to get everyone together."

Velvet nodded, taking a deep breath before running off, turning on her scroll to open a map, showing her the location of her teammates and fellow students.

-

Velvet skidded to a stop in front of Ciel, glancing at Neo.

"You know what? No time to worry about that," she muttered, "The General's declaring martial law and taking Atlas higher. He's leaving Mantle to die. We need to either get the people up there or to the safe houses."

"The safe houses are full," Ciel said, combining her short swords into a revolver before shooting at a nearby Grimm.

Neo smirked.

_'I have an idea.'_

"That's never good," Ciel said.

"What did she say?" Velvet asked.

_'I can get us control of the airships. Don't ask how, you know me.'_

Ciel spun and translated to a shocked Velvet.

"Right... I'll spread the word," she said. She hoped that the stereotype of rabbit faunus being good runners was true, because she was racing back and forth through the battlefield quite a lot.

-

Winter stared down at her scroll in shock.

"Weiss... what did you do?"

"The General is leaving Mantle to perish?" Penny asked.

"He’s saving Remnant. We can’t let the Relic fall to Salem," Winter said, sighing.

"But all those people we just protected, they won’t survive," Penny said, eyes worried.

Winter began walking, glancing back at Penny, who wasn't following her.

"We don’t have time to-"

Penny glared at her.

"That doesn’t _bother_ you?"

Winter stopped, looking back at Penny with a frustrated and rather confused look on her face.

"What about your sister? Our _friends_?"

"My personal feelings don’t matter. We have orders. I’m to retrieve the power of the Winter Maiden so we can access the Relic. You’re here to ensure my safety. Now come on. We’ve already lost enough time."

"It _should_ matter."

"Penny. The general is making hard choices so we don’t have to. For the good of _all_ , not just a few."

Winter took Penny's hands in her own, staring into them with an apologetic light.

"I do not see what is _good_ about _any_ of this," Penny said.

"On that we can agree," Winter muttered.

-

Team RWBY let out a collective sigh of relief, looking at the unconscious Ace-Ops.

They started to gather the bodies and drag them outside, but the door to a nearby elevator opened, revealing Pietro and a mysterious woman.

"Oh!" Pietro said.

"This is the part where they ask us for help," the mysterious woman said.

-

"I hope it will be painless for her," Winter muttered.

"You _said_ your personal feelings don't matter," Penny said.

"They won’t change my actions. What I’m committed to. The power of the Winter Maiden and the Relic _must_ be kept from our enemies. Even if it means she dies," Winter said. Though she looked rather unsure.

They both looked at Fria.

"But yes Penny, we must still acknowledge our personal feelings, _wrestle_ with them. It ensures us that we’re on the right path. It’s what makes us human."

"I think… I think I understand," Penny said slowly.

A loud explosion shakes the room behind them.

"What was that?" Winter asked.

The room shook again.

"Hmm. _Both_ of Ironwood’s puppets. Lucky me," Emerald said, stalking into the room. Her eyes glowed a light red color. She pulled off her gloves, putting them in her pocket almost reverently, and revealed two Grimm hands.

-

Pyrrha raced around the corner, her team following close behind her.

Ilia grabbed her hand, pulling her to a stop and shoving them both against the wall. In front of them, five guards raced past.

Pyrrha knew they were looking for her, wanting to capture her to keep her secure in Atlas to avoid losing the Fall Maiden.

"Don't worry, we won't let them get you," Ilia promised.

"We need to get to Mantle, to help," Pyrrha said.

"We will," Jaune said, leading the team into the next hallway.

-

Robyn looked around, watching as Clover led Tyrian into a holding facility.

Something was... wrong.

Her scroll buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket.

She read the words quickly and her eyes widened.

She typed a quick message to her Huntresses, and slid the scroll back into her pocket before Clover could see that she had it.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," Robyn said.

He nodded, and she stepped outside.

Minutes later, she raced into an airship.

"He declared martial law. We need to help Mantle."


	27. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somone: You're destroying canon!  
> Me: *setting fire to the script* Unfortunate.

Winter swung her sword at Emerald, but the criminal did a back handspring to avoid it. Emerald blocked another attack from Winter by summoning a pair of black swords. Her eyes glowed green.

"You're a Maiden," Winter breathed.

The other girl smirked.

"Nobody cared to watch the little Summer Maiden, did they? A shame."

Their swords were locked together and Emerald took a step forward, pushing Winter back.

"You think hoarding power means you’ll have it _forever_ , but it just makes the rest of us _hungrier_."

She kicked Winter in the stomach, sending her slamming against the wall. A sword flashed past Emerald's head, and it struck the wall nearby Winter.

"And I refuse to starve."

Penny spun her swords in the air, trying to hit Emerald, but Emerald used her own to block the attacks. Penny brought her swords together and sent them shooting toward the Maiden. She twisted and spun, barely avoiding them. Winter drew her sword again and shot forward, stabbing at Emerald, who used black glass swords that she'd summon to block the attacks. Penny and Winter stood side by side near Fria, defending the current Winter Maiden from Emereald's attacks. The Summer Maiden growled lowly before shooting through the air, via the use of her Maiden powers. She grabbed both Winter and Penny by the throat, slamming them through the wall and throwing them outside.

Winter attempted to stab Emerald, but she stretched out her Grimm arm and held Winter too far away for her to reach. The Special Agent stabbed at Emerald's arm, causing her to scream in pain, dropping Winter. Winter summoned a Manticore to catch her, but Emerald didn't see this, turning her attention to Penny. She tried to stab Penny, but Penny turned on her jets, sending both of them tumbling mid-air. Emerald sent a black sword at Penny, who barely escaped her grasp, and Penny caught it in her hands. The sword exploded and Penny cried out in pain.

A blue fireball struck Emerald, and she spun, cursing under her breath, to face Winter, who was flying toward her. Emerald sent a sword toward Winter and spun to face Penny, who fought for a moment before moving out of the way, leaving Emerald to be hit by another blue fireball from Winter.

Emerald screamed in anger before racing toward Winter, avoiding another fireball, and stabbing through the Manticore, dissolving it. Winter dropped through the air, and Emerald struck her with an exploding sword. Winter screamed in pain, her aura breaking as she hurtled toward the ground at full speed.

Penny shot toward Winter, catching her gently in her arms.

"What are you doing!? _My_ life doesn’t matter!" Winter cried.

"I disagree," Penny said, her eyes turned fonder. Her considered for just a moment before she decided on her next words.

"Personal feelings always matter."

-

Velvet panted, leaning on her knees as her breath came in quick, shallow bursts. Coco put her hand on her shoulder.

"Take a break, Velvs."

"I can't. There's... too much at stake."

-

Pyrrha loathed to do it, but she send a burst of power out of herself, knocking several guards that were chasing them unconscious.

"Don't worry, Pyrrha. We're almost out," Jaune said.

Ilia squeezed her hand.

-

Neo let out a laugh. It didn't make a noise, but if it had, she was sure it would have sounded mischievous.

She threw the unconscious man out of the airship, watching him land on the ground of the ever elevating Atlas, and sat down on the pilot's seat.

She sent a message to Ciel.

**Neo:** _I_ _got another._

**Gorgeous:** _You're far too good at this._

 **Neo:** _Does that really surprise you?_

 **Gorgeous:** _Definitely not._

-

"I’ve been waiting here... for some time, I think. What was I waiting for?" Fria asked, glancing down at her hands.

" _Me,_ " Emerald said, smirking.

"No," Fria said, "I had a job to do."

A whirlwind of snow picked up, whipping around her as she lifted into the air, watching with slightly dazed eyes.

"What _is_ that?" Penny asked, watching in shock.

"The power of a fully realized Maiden," Winter said.

Winter ran toward the entrance and reached a hand forward. The snow ripped three fingers of her gloves off, revealing suddenly bright red fingers. She cried out in pain, and Penny raced forward, staring at her injured digits worriedly.

"It’s too cold. We have to do something!" Winter said.

Penny looked from Winter's hands to her own.

She jumped inside.

"Penny!" Winter cried out worriedly.

Penny stepped through the whirlwind of snow, pausing to use her jets to free her frozen foot, and set a hand on Fria's ankle, as it was the only part of the levitating woman she could reach. The Maiden gasped and looked down at her.

"Are you okay?" Penny asked.

" had a job to do. I was supposed to protect the power of the maiden until I was ready. I worry I may have lost track of time. But you can tell James that I’m ready now.

"Ma'am, if you do that..."

"I'll be gone. I know I have a hard time remembering, but I remember that."

She looked down at Penny, floating toward the ground.

"What’s your name?"

"It's Penny, ma'am."

"Penny. Are _you_ the one?"

Penny glanced over her shoulder uncertainly.

"I... I..."

-

Pyrrha leapt onto the airship that team RWBY had brought. She turned back around and reached her hand down. Ilia grabbed onto it, and Pyrrha pulled her onto the airship. Nora jumped up and Ren followed her. They both turned as one, reaching down. Jaune grabbed onto both of their hands, letting them pull him up. Ilia and Pyrrha took a seat side by side, the faunus curling up at her side and holding her arm tightly, as if worried she might be stolen away. Ren and Nora sat down as well, grabbing onto one another's hands. Jaune was seated beside them, and glanced to the side. He gained a slightly fond and slightly hurt look on his face for a moment before looking away.

-

Emerald threw herself toward them.

"She’s _mine_!"

She reached out with one of her Grimm hands. Penny closed her eyes.

There was a scream, and Penny's eyes shot open. Emerald's hand was disintegrated, having been cut off by Winter.

"No," Winter said worriedly.

Emerald and Winter got into a fight, the former cutting through Winter's sleeve and causing blood to spurt from her arm.

Penny moves toward them, but Fria held her back, losing consciousness.

Penny took her hand worriedly, watching her slip away.

Fria's aura glowed blue for a moment and it slipped into Penny's own. The woman went limp in her arms.

Emerald threw Winter back against an ice wall. Winter had a black eye now, and her hair was in tangles. She groaned in pain, and Emerald advanced toward her.

Penny hurried forward, her eyes falling shut for a moment before opening, her eyes glowing green.

Emerald stared with disbelief before growling in anger.

"Winter!" Weiss cried. Her and Ruby stood there at the door.

Emerald summoned a blue fireball, and Weiss gasped in fear.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried. Her eyes suddenly glowed silver, lighting up the entire room.

Emerald cried out in pain, falling onto the ground and writhing in agony.

When the silver glow disappeared, Emerald was gone.

Ruby fell to her knees, and Weiss grabbed her, hauling her girlfriend to her feet worriedly.

Ruby gestured for her to go, panting slightly, and Weiss hurried to her sister's side.

"Winter," she said worriedly.

Winter propped herself up against the wall and opened her mouth, glaring angrily.

Penny hurried to her side, and Winter paused, staring into Penny's worried eyes.

"I suggest you all surrender," she grunted, "and comply with the General’s orders."

Weiss glanced at Ruby, who was leaning on her slightly.

"We can't do that," Weiss said sadly.

"Then... I suggest you run," Winter responded.

" _No_ , you’re hurt! I’m _not_ going to leave you like this!" Weiss cried.

Winter opened her mouth, glaring daggers at her sister, to speak. Penny cuts her off, leaning down to grab the older Schnee.

"You're right. We're not," Penny said, grabbing Winter gently and picking her up.

Winter struggled for a moment before sighing in defeat, slumping in Penny's arms.

She fell unconscious a moment later, and Weiss stared at her worriedly.

"We have to go," Ruby said. She glanced at Penny.

"Are you coming?"

Penny nodded quickly.

The four hurried to the nearby airship, meeting up with team JNIPR and the rest of RWBY.

"Is she okay?" Blake asked.

Weiss nodded and sat down beside Yang, letting herself fall against her.

Today had been a long day, but it wasn't over yet.


	28. More Questions

Qrow let out a groan.

They had to get to Atlas before Ironwood ruined everything... but just after Oz had told him that, he'd gotten a notification on his scroll about the revelation the General had told the world.

"Too late, Ozzy," he muttered, taking another shot of whiskey.

-

"There's too many!" Fox cried.

Coco glanced at her teammate before her gaze landed on the group of citizens they were defending. There were a couple dozen huddled behind her and her team, and the Grimm were crowding around them from every side, pushing them against a wall. Velvet was panting from exertion, leaning against Yatsu as she attempted to draw her weapon again.

Before Coco could say anything, however, a large airship was dropping toward them.

"Neo wants to know if we're too late for the party," Ciel said over a loud speaker.

Coco grinned.

"You have a warped image of what a party is!" she yelled.

"Are you surprised?" Ciel asked.

Coco laughed, though it was a quiet one that was filled with exhaustion.

The ship's weapons were drawn and the guns fired at the Grimm, causing them to dissipate.

After a moment, a small form dropped out of the airship and floated down through the use of a small parasol. She landed on the ground gently and spun to face a large Grimm that was at least a dozen times her size. Neo beckoned for the creature to attack, and it did just as instructed.

Neo smirked and twirled her parasol in hand, stabbing it through the chest with surprising force for such a small girl.

Ciel followed her, sighing. The criminal signed something, and her girlfriend rolled her eyes.

"Neo wants to know if you guys are going to get on the ship or just stand there gawking," Ciel said.

 _'That's not exactly what I said,'_ Neo signed in between attacks.

"Yes, but I can't repeat what you said in pleasant company," Ciel muttered, shooting at another Grimm.

Neo snickered.

Coco ignored the two.

"Alright, everyone! Get on board!" she called, eyeing the airship. It was still shooting at Grimm, though Coco wasn't sure who was controlling it. It had landed on the ground and they all hurried toward it.

Coco held up Velvet and helped her get on board, letting her collapse on a seat.

-

A mother clutched her small child in hand, running from a Grimm behind them.

She knew there were a lot of other civilians doing the same, but she was struggling to keep up while carrying the two year old toddler in her arms.

She realized that, in her panic, she had run into a corner, and she skidded to a stop, looking for a way out. She didn't find one. She took a deep breath and curled around her child, protecting them with her body. Maybe she could save her daughter. The Grimm behind her raised an arm and she closed her eyes, preparing for the attack. It never came. She turned slowly and saw a group of four girls taking down the Grimm.

Ruby snatched Blake's weapon out of the air and used her semblance to race around the Grimm and tangle it up. When she finished, Yang set explosions around it, causing the Grimm to burst into dust.

-

Pyrrha stood and walked over to Penny, who was still holding Winter in her lap, running a hand through the other girl's hair gently. Winter was still unconscious, though she looked more peaceful than she had when she'd first entered the airship.

"You're the new Winter Maiden?" Pyrrha asked.

Penny jumped and looked up at her. She nodded, and Pyrrha gave her a small smile.

"If you need help, I'm here."

Penny gave her a thankful look before her gaze landed on the opening to the airship.

"We should help."

Pyrrha smiled and gave her a hand up.

"You're right."

Ilia was at Pyrrha's side a moment later, asking a few quiet questions to make sure that her girlfriend was alright.

Penny gave Winter one last lingering look, adjusting the Schnee's coat so that it covered her more, just in case she got cold.

-

Ruby paused when she felt her scroll go off.

"I need cover," she called.

"I got her," Blake cried, stepping in front of Ruby protectively.

Ruby pulled out her communicator, seeing a surprising message from Qrow.

 **Uncle Qrow <3:** Hey kid where are you

 **Ruby:** Atlas

 **Uncle Qrow <3:** Are you fighting

 **Ruby:** Maybe

 **Uncle Qrow <3:** Call me when you're done

 **Ruby:** Ok

Ruby put her scroll back in her pocket and gave Blake a thankful look before turning back to the fight, attempting to shepherd the civilians onto the nearest airship.

-

Pyrrha and Penny drifted down to the ground through the use of their Maiden powers.

Pyrrha hadn't had the chance to practice much with her new found powers, considering it was suppose to be a secret, but it was pretty self explanatory, which was probably why Penny was using her new powers so expertly.

They knew they had to be fast, especially considering the fact that Emerald was likely after them, if she was still alive, that is. And the civilians didn't have much time, because there were more Grimm coming. Too many for them to face. They had to evacuate.

-

This pattern went on for about an hour before the students of Beacon had to withdraw from the fighting. They'd saved lots of civilians, which had been carried up to Atlas and dropped off, but knew they hadn't gotten to all of them. The bodies they'd seen littering the ground had been enough to prove that. When they couldn't locate any more, and the Grimm were so numerous that they threatened to take the airships down.

The students got back onto their airships and evacuated as well, headed vaguely away from Atlas at top speed.

Ruby was leaning against Weiss when she pulled out her scroll, panting slightly from the exertion of the fight.

She called Qrow.

"Hey, Uncle Qrow!"

Yang glanced at her, raising an eyebrow, and Ruby held up a finger to tell her to wait a minute.

"Yeah, we're leaving Atlas now."

There was a moment of silence from Ruby as she listened.

"To Haven Academy? Why?"

Yang moved closer in an attempt to hear Qrow.

"Ozpin? Uncle Qrow, he's dead."

"Listen, kid, just get whoever's left to Haven."

Qrow hung up, and Ruby frowned in confusion.

Something else was going on, but she had no idea what.


	29. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end!
> 
> Of part two, that is. Look out for three in the distant future! (Probably in under an hour)

Blake pulled out her scroll, finding a message from her mother.

 **Mom:** Are you okay? I heard what happened in Atlas

 **Blake:** I'm fine. My team and I got out fine

 **Mom:** You four are welcome back here, if you need a place to stay. We could even use some help.

 **Blake:** What's wrong?

 **Mom:** Your father and I are investigating the White Fang here at home.

 **Blake:** My team and I are needed at Haven

 **Mom:** Don't worry about it then, Sweetie. We'll be alright

 **Blake:** No, give me a minute.

Blake opened another contact.

 **Blake:** Where are you and your team going?

 **Velvet:** I thought we were all going to Haven

 **Blake:** I was looking for some volunteers to help in Menagerie

 **Velvet:** With what?

 **Blake:** White Fang

 **Velvet:** We're in.

Blake sent Velvet's number to her mother, wishing she could go instead. But she had to be here for her team... and the rest of the world, she supposed.

-

Qrow threw his scroll across the bar, groaning.

"They'll be here soon, Oz. I just hope it's soon enough."

-

Emerald limped into the room, supported by Mercury.

Her eye was missing, having just disappeared from her socket when that silver eyed girl had exploded with power. She was missing an arm, which Winter had cut off, and her other one seemed almost burnt, also because of Ruby.

Salem took one look at her and glared darkly. Emerald flinched.

"You've failed me, just like Cinder," she said, her voice low and gravelly.

Emerald tried not to flinch again.

"But lucky for you, I'm a patient woman, and I'll give you one last chance."

She put a hand on Emerald's chin, making her look up into Salem's dark black eyes.

"But my patience is not unending."


End file.
